Ep7 - Fertiliser Truck/Sealord
Mike Rowley was spreading lime on a steep paddock in Timaru when he found himself living a worst case scenario. His truck rolled, crashing down the hillside into a gully at the bottom. Mike was trapped inside the crushed cab unable to move, with a broken neck.
It was only Mike's determination and strength of mind that kept him alive until he could be cut free and airlifted to hospital.
Health and Safety Inspector Hamish Piercy is stunned when he visits the scene: the hillside is so steep, it's hard to understand what Mike was thinking to drive there in the first place. Hamish must ask whether Mike made his own decisions about how to tackle the job, or was he under pressure to get it done at any cost?
But there is also a question mark over the truck. Could a mechanical failure or maintenance defect have played any part in the accident? And if he is to prevent a similar accident happening again, Hamish must establish what the variables were to cause it to roll at that particular point.
After thoroughly investigating all these issues, Hamish discusses the results with the man himself. 3 months after the terrible accident which crushed his spine and left him permanently paralysed, Mike Rowley is still in hospital, bravely facing up to a very different future with the support of his wife Kay. But how much personal responsibility must he take for the disaster that put him there? Mike talks openly about the accident and its aftermath.
Accidents at work can happen in a split second, the consequences affect families for the rest of their lives. When the workplace is at sea, even access to emergency services becomes a major operation.
1000kms off the coast of Southland a crewman aboard the fishing boat Aoraki is trapped in a fish processing machine and fighting for his life. While the Search and Rescue center focuses on getting medical attention to the injured man, Maritime New Zealand Investigator Zoë Brangwin heads to Invercargill to meet the boat when it docks. She must discover how this accident happened and whether anything could have been done to prevent it. Should someone be held accountable?
