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Five people have been injured in an explosion at a construction site on Halsey St, Auckland. Video / Michael Craig / Joey Dwyer

They've fallen through skylights, had arms amputated after a high-voltage electric shock, been burned in a gas cylinder explosion, had scaffolding collapse on them, shot through the heart with a nail gun, accidentally amputated a hand and been killed by a runaway truck.

A string of horrific accidents lately - many in Auckland - has left construction workers suffering terrible, sometimes fatal, injuries.

It's men, and particularly those working on building, sites who are suffering especially. The events have resulted in high-profile publicity, making construction appear to be horrifically dangerous.

Yet data from Mahi Haumaru Aotearoa, WorkSafe NZ, shows the industry with the highest number of fatalities from February 2021 to January 2022 was actually transport, postal and warehousing, where 17 deaths were recorded.

Construction came second with 11 deaths, followed by agriculture's six deaths, six more in agriculture/forestry/fishing support services, and "other services", with five deaths.

And there's even some good news: WorkSafe data shows the past 12 months had a relatively low number of work injuries, illnesses and serious harm compared with the past seven years: in 2016 there were 2684 notifications; rising to 3172 in 2017; 3128 in 2018; 3144 by 2019; 2502 by 2020; and 2624 by 2021. In the most recent 12-month period — September 2021 to August 2022 — the total was 2512.

So far, this year has been one of the safest on record for worker injuries, WorkSafe data shows.

And while it has a high profile, construction jobs are actually less risky when fatalities in that sector are compared to others: 4.41 deaths per 100,000 construction workers compared to forestry at 48 deaths per 100,000. Transport, postal and warehousing has 15.51 deaths per 100,000 workers, while agriculture, forestry and fishing services has 14.39 deaths per 100,000 workers.

But unfortunately, construction does rate at No 1 of all sectors for the total number of work-related injuries, illness and serious harm, followed by manufacturing.

Auckland is rated as having the highest number of injuries, illnesses and serious harm in the workplace, followed by Canterbury, Waikato, Wellington and Otago.

So what's going on with the accidents and fatalities in the building business?

This month three organisations spoke out, calling for a renewed focus on health and safety: WorkSafe NZ, Construction Health and Safety NZ and the Council of Trade Unions.

"The social and economic cost of deaths, injuries and ill-health arising from work is estimated at $3.5 billion a year," says WorkSafe, which was founded in 2013 in the wake of the 2010 Pike River mine disaster, where 29 men were killed. "However, the real toll is paid by the families, friends and co-workers of those who are killed, seriously injured or experience work-related ill-health.

"Every year an estimated 700 to 900 people die prematurely as a result of work-related ill-health and 50 to 60 people are killed in work incidents. This is unacceptable. We have firm targets and priorities to transform New Zealand's workplace health and safety performance."

WorkSafe's latest annual report says it is engaging with businesses, organisations and kaimahi to help them do the right thing. It has 18 offices, 671 people and in the 2020/21 year completed 14,121 assessments, concluded 12 audits, finished 187 investigations and prosecuted 63 businesses and/or people.

The Crown agency got $120.6m in government funding in the year to June 30, 2021. But it has also been reported as complaining about a lack of adequate resources to carry out all its regulatory responsibilities.

Chapman Tripp partner Garth Gallaway, in Christchurch, says New Zealand is over-represented internationally in its health and safety statistics.

He has practised in health and safety law since 1994 and says he agrees with criticism that WorkSafe is underfunded and under-resourced by the Government.

He is concerned that as part of a good health and safety system, officers of companies and other organisations are not being regularly interviewed to make sure they are meeting their obligations.

"With Pike River, one of the key areas New Zealand was found wanting in was governance. Prior to new workplace legislation [the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015] coming into force in April 2016, we were advising our clients that as a matter of course, they should expect that when someone was seriously harmed or fatally injured, an officer of that person conducting a business or undertaking will be interviewed because under the law, there are formal obligations on officers.

"The officers have a duty. Since 2016, I think I've seen WorkSafe interview only one officer from my clients and I've been involved in hundreds of investigations. To my knowledge, the only prosecutions of officers have been of small, tightly held businesses where the officers are essentially managing the work site and are there day-to-day," Gallaway says.

He says part of the problem relates to a lack of skills within the inspectorate.

"The inspectors do not appear to have been trained to interview officers in relation to the due diligence obligations which the officers have," he says.

The inspectors understand that when they turn up to interview a person conducting a business or undertaking, they should ask them about training, induction, supervision, and how they assess hazards and the risk of harm. But interviewing officers about their due diligence obligations requires a completely different knowledge-base and skills, he says.

He is not suggesting officers are not performing their roles appropriately. But if they are not being investigated in the course of serious harm accidents, then opportunities for education and, in the worst cases, enforcement are missed. And the overall system is weaker as a result.

That's the thinking at some big businesses. For example, at Fletcher Building, chief executive Ross Taylor's pay is partly based on having nil to low accidents and fatalities in the business, which employs about 15,000 people. The fulfilment of safety goals is one of the measures on which his pay is earned or docked.

Taylor is New Zealand's highest-paid chief executive, enjoying a 34 per cent annual pay rise in the June 30, 2022 year, making $6.58 million after steering the giant conglomerate to new financial heights. That was up on the previous $4.91m.

Fletcher's annual report is full of green "pass" marks for Taylor's financial, safety and individual achievements. Orange dots indicate "not achieved" and yellow marks a partial achievement, but none of those colours blotted his record book this year

Taylor went all green and in fact was above target for earnings before interest and taxation, group cash and safety gateway outcomes - those green dots circled in green to mark an outstanding performance.

Ironhide Roofing, Hawke's Bay - skylight fall

On September 6, the Herald reported WorkSafe's statement on a court sentencing in a case which involved an underage worker falling through a Hawke's Bay skylight. The 14-year-old roofer was seriously injured when he plunged 8m through the skylight, directly onto a concrete floor, while working for Ironhide Roofing. The company was sentenced in the Napier District Court.

WorkSafe said the worker had been told not to walk on the skylights because they were brittle, but a WorkSafe investigation found the advice didn't go far enough, and nor did it meet industry guidelines.

The probe also found a barrier should have been in place to restrict workers from inadvertently standing on a skylight in an older, weaker part of the roof.

Ironhide was ordered to pay reparations of $40,000 and fined $25,000.

A construction site explosion last month that badly injured five workers was caused by a leak from a barbecue stored in a container. Hawkins spokeswoman Helene Toury said that before site operations starting, a team of Hawkins' subcontractors were close to a gas fire.

Five people were badly burned, one critically, and all were rushed to hospital. Four of the workers remained in hospital receiving treatment for burns, while the other was discharged last month. None of the workers remained in intensive care.

Mt Eden scaffolding: one worker dies, another hurt

A construction worker died after the scaffolding he was installing on units collapsed, trapping him underneath. Another worker was hurt. A St John Ambulance spokesperson said two ambulances and two rapid-response vehicles attended the accident on Dunbar Rd, Mt Eden.

"We treated and then transported one patient in a critical condition and one in a minor condition to Auckland City Hospital." A police spokesperson confirmed that the man in critical condition had died.

WorkSafe has opened an investigation but no report has yet been published.

Scaffolder has both arms amputated after electric shock

In April, the Herald reported how a West Auckland scaffolder had both arms amputated after high voltage electric shock. Jahden Nelson, 28, was in hospital after a work site accident in Massey.

He suffered horrific burns, had both arms amputated and was fighting for his life in hospital. Today, he still faces the prospect of years of rehabilitation.

A high voltage current ripped through Nelson as he dismantled scaffolding at a Massey property. His mother, Toni Paikea, believes her son was holding a steel pole when it touched low-hanging overhead powerlines.

A neighbour who witnessed the accident heard a loud explosion.

Pallet worker cuts off right hand

Christchurch's Southern Pallet Recycling went to the High Court for a May judgment against WorkSafe NZ, after a worker accidentally cut off his right hand - which was then reattached surgically. The pallet business was seeking to stop the prosecution, on the basis that a WorkSafe inspector had not noted any issues in an earlier visit to the site, but lost its case.

The worker was using a "rise and fall" saw on February 15, 2019. He was clearing debris from around the saw when he pivoted on his left foot and activated a pedal that brought the saw up, cutting off his right hand at the wrist. The hand was reattached the next day.

An examination of the saw after the accident identified aspects of its functioning which were deficient and which, by implication, contributed to the risk of injury to workers. These included the fact that the foot pedal was easily activated and did not require a two-handed "hold-to-run" control to operate it, which is considered best practice, the judge ruled.

Nail gun shoots into worker's heart

A South Auckland man was "lucky to be alive" after being shot in the heart with a nail gun by a colleague at work, the Herald reported last year.

The man, who was working for mattresses and bed base maker Sleepwell (NZ), was awarded $15,000 reparation following a WorkSafe investigation. Sleepwell, appearing in the Manukau District Court, was also fined $250,000.

The incident took place in September 2019 at the company's South Auckland plant after a worker went to free a coiled hose connecting his nail gun to the air supply line when the gun recoiled, firing a nail into the chest of the victim who was walking behind him.

Runaway truck kills roadworker in Wellington

This week, the Herald reported on a court hearing after roadworker Joji Bilo, 25, was killed in Wellington's Ngauranga Gorge in March 2019 after being struck by a runaway truck.

The vehicle had a faulty handbrake, a known issue with its particular brake system.

Infrastructure and roading company Fulton Hogan came before the court for the tragic incident, having pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety Act 2015. The outcome of the hearing was reserved by Judge Arthur Tompkins.

Fulton Hogan was the lead contractor on the worksite in Wellington at the time.

Managing director Cos Bruyn told the court that as soon as Futon Hogan became aware of a fault with the brake system, they made sure to have it fixed in all the vehicles in their own fleet, but did not go so far as to insist that their sub-contractors also had the system fixed.

Lawyers for WorkSafe and Fulton Hogan told the court that there had been multiple crashes in New Zealand caused by faulty handbrakes, and how Fulton Hogan subsequently lobbied for a ban on the brake system in question to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Latest WorkSafe prosecutions in construction and building:

Architectural Window Solutions was fined $49,500, to be paid monthly over five years. A 3-year-old child swallowed a hazardous substance or solvent stored in a drink bottle on the Gladstone Apartments site where the firm was working.

Kerr Construction Whangarei was fined $210,000. An employee and another worker were removing ceiling air conditioning units using mobile scaffolding. While removing a particularly heavy unit, the unit suddenly released and hit the scaffold, causing the victim to lose balance. He fell onto the concrete floor, hitting his head and losing consciousness. He suffered multiple skull and chest fractures and serious brain injury which has required ongoing rehabilitation. He also suffered memory loss.

Urban Space was fined $30,000. It was installing a set of stairs into a residential property, hoisting them via an electric chain hoist and double fall chain, supported by a steel beam. Difficulties were encountered. The victim crossed the stairs under the beam to ask another worker for help and on his way back the steel beam fell and struck him. He then fell off the edge of the stairs to the flight of stairs below.

Hobson Construction was fined $180,000. On three consecutive dates it was given a prohibition notice preventing work on the second level top plate of a residential building until fall protection equipment was in place. Yet workers were on that second-level top plate without any fall protection in place. The company was working at Millwater in Auckland.

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