New Zealand is relying on a generation of young apprentices to up tools and take on a sea of construction work. Are workplaces keeping them safe on the job?
"We've had one fatality each year for the last three years in the construction industry...they were young, vulnerable workers," says WorkSafe CEO Phil Parkes. Photo: 123RF
Workplace safety inductions are often brushed over, dismissed as being an overreaction to risks that will probably never play out.
A horrific case in Nelson, however, should bring employers up short.
The case, at marine engineering firm Aimex Limited, is another in a long line of teenage boys who - at the start of what should be promising trade careers - are maimed for life.
The Detail takes a look at New Zealand's cavalier attitude to workplace safety, talking to WorkSafe's CEO Phil Parkes, and AUT professor of construction management John Tookey.
Parkes runs through the recent case in Nelson where 18-year-old Brook Palmer has been left brain damaged after using a volatile solvent to clean the engine bay of a large boat.
Following an investigation, WorkSafe laid charges, with Aimex pleading guilty in the Nelson District Court.
However, in what Parkes describes as a "brazen decision", the business destroyed key documents to cover up a previous, similar incident.
WorkSafe called in the police. Brook's bosses, brothers Steven and William Sullivan, will be sentenced in July after being found guilty last month of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
"They knew exactly what they were doing. They were reckless, and I'm glad they've been held to account," says Parkes.
WorkSafe is particularly concerned about young workers in dangerous trades.
"We've had one fatality each year for the last three years in the construction industry...they were young, vulnerable workers. We do know that construction is a dangerous industry, and [workplaces] need to improve their performance. Because the labour market is tight, because we are sponsoring more apprentices to go into trades, that risk does grow," he says.
"Apprentices are not cheap, low-value labour that can be put at risk. They are the future generation and companies that take apprentices need to recognise that they have a responsibility to look after them and train them."
Professor John Tookey, who specialises in construction management at AUT, says large firms tend to understand they run reputational risks if they have accidents in their workplaces, and they are mindful of the social expectations of getting their employees home in one piece.
But he says small firms are a different story.
"What happens very quickly is the young tradie will get thrown into fetching and carrying stuff...into doing basic tasks...and they will gradually be expected to do more and more. But they still need day to day supervision of someone not exactly holding their hand, but not far off.
"If you impose significant legislative requirement on them they'll just get to the point where they say it's just too difficult to take on an apprentice."
Then you're left with the situation where those people who do commit to training an apprentice find their staff being poached by those who don't.
"The reality is, if you wish to have a fruitful career and a well-paid career, getting involved in the trades is the way to go," says Tookey.
"For the future of the building industry we need to create the conditions whereby not only is it very clear that there is a great career outcome...but we are actually looking after and valuing the asset that is that individual...and making sure they have every opportunity to get to old age without damaging themselves as a result of their job choice."
Hear more about the Aimex case and the dangers facing apprentices in New Zealand by listening to the full podcast.
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