WorkSafe New Zealand has held an Auckland businessman liable for failures that led to the death of a subcontractor, who fell from the roof of a house while spray painting.
Hon Sang Cheuk was the sole director of DMJ Painters Limited, which hired the painter for the job at Bucklands Beach in June 2020. No scaffolding was in place at the house, nor did Mr Cheuk check if the worker used the harness he was given for the job, or was trained and competent to use one.
DMJ Painters Limited was put into liquidation 49 days after the fall occurred, so Mr Cheuk himself was prosecuted for his failings as a company director under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. He has now been sentenced in the Manukau District Court.
“Individuals and directors have a range of health and safety responsibilities and liquidating your company does not absolve you of them,” says WorkSafe’s area investigation manager, Danielle Henry.
A WorkSafe investigation found inadequate risk assessment at the site, where no measures were in place to prevent the victim falling from the roof onto a concrete patio.
“Some form of edge protection should have been in place as a basic safeguard. It was easily foreseeable that a fall could occur, resulting in serious injury or death.
“The victim of this fall leaves behind a wife and son, whose lives are forever changed by a simple failure to put safety first,” says Danielle Henry.
