Inquiries & Recommendations

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Railway track workers were at risk when a train approached in what they thought was a protected work area. Administrative procedures like forms and radio calls are not enough to mitigate this sort of risk. Everyone involved in workplace safety needs to communicate clearly. TAIC recommends KiwiRail improve engineering failsafes to mitigate risk of human error.

On Tuesday, 26 November 1996, at about 1326 hours, the restricted-limit fishing charter boat "Lambo" shipped waves through an open foredeck hatch, flooded and capsized in rough seas. The skipper and four passengers on board were rescued from the capsized boat without injury. A safety issue identified was the failure to heed an accurate weather forecast before embarking on the trip.

On Monday, 11 November 1996, at about 0820 hours, the charter launch "Toroa" collided with a rock off Castle Head near the entrance to Port Hardy, D'Urville Island. Five of the nine passengers on board received slight to moderate injuries in the collision. Visibility was good and the sea conditions calm. The collision was caused by the inadvertent moving of the second steering wheel fitted to the boat, at a time when the progress of the "Toroa" was not being monitored adequately. A safety issue was the accessibility of the second steering wheel to unauthorised persons.

On Tuesday, 20 August 1996, at approximately 1730 hours, the longline fishing vessel "Warlock" was overcome by seas near the entrance to Tauranga Harbour and subsequently washed up onto Mount Maunganui Beach. The two crew members on board lost their lives and the vessel was extensively damaged in the accident. The cause of the accident was not identified conclusively.

On Saturday, 2 March 1996, at approximately 1230 hours, the rigid inflatable passenger craft "Uruao", while engaged on a whale-watching trip off Kaikoura Peninsula, suffered a catastrophic failure of the bags that secured her buoyancy pontoons in place and capsized approximately three minutes later. One passenger was trapped under the capsized craft and drowned. The causal factor was the loss of stability experienced when all four buoyancy pontoons were lost. Safety issues identified included maintenance procedures and stability requirements for rigid inflated craft.

On Monday 11 December 1995 at about 0800 hours 20 LPA wagons loaded with roading aggregate rolled out of the loop at Raupunga onto the main line and ran down a 1 in 50 grade to Maungaturanga viaduct approximately 1.5 kilometres away. A painting gang working on the viaduct were forced to take urgent evasive action. The wagons came to rest a further 1 kilometre away on a 1 in 50 ascending grade and rolled back to the bridge. The causal factor of the main line runaway was unloading wagons on a crossing loop on a grade with no protection to stop runaway wagons entering the main line.

On Tuesday 8 August 1995 at about 1025 hours Y3 Shunt operated by New Zealand Rail Limited was shunting at Ravensbourne. Two shunters were riding on the footplate on the front of the locomotive. As the locomotive negotiated a turnout the left hand side of the footplate caught under the head of a rail on the adjacent road and the footplate buckled. The shunter on the left hand side was thrown off the footplate and trapped under it, suffering serious injuries. The causal factor was the relative heights of the rails on the converging tracks.

On Tuesday, 8 December 1998, at about 1635, the Tauranga Volunteer Coastguard rigid inflatable vessel "Rescue 1" was responding to a Mayday call from a vessel near Motiti Island when it suffered a failure of the outer covers that secured the buoyancy bladders to the hull. The two starboard bladders separated from the hull and the port forward bladder deflated. The vessel continued to Motiti Island and attended the rescue before returning to Tauranga. There were no injuries. Safety issues identified included:

At about 2145 on Monday, 19 January 1998, the general cargo vessel "T.A. Explorer" was outbound from Nelson under pilotage when the vessel failed to make the turn near the entrance to the harbour and ran aground on Haulashore Island. The vessel was re-floated after about 20 minutes and, as damage was minimal, continued its voyage to Timaru. The grounding occurred because the speed of the ship was too high for the tugs to assist in the manner intended by the pilot. Safety issues identified included: • incomplete assessment of new piloting techniques,

On Thursday, 10 September 1998, an on-track maintenance group had just finished packing up their two hi-rail vehicles for off-tracking when they noticed Train GR7, the EM80 track evaluation car, approaching from the north and approximately 2.7 km distant. The ganger managed to contact the locomotive engineer using the train control radio and the train was brought to a stop well clear of the hi-rail vehicles. The cause of the near collision was the drawing of a maintenance occupation on the train control diagram approximately 10 km south of its actual location.

At about 0900 hours on Friday, 25 October 1996, a gangway fell from a Steam Incorporated passenger excursion train being operated by Tranz Rail Limited between Paekakariki and Wairoa. The gangway fell clear of the track near Opapa. The carriage doors on either side were locked as a safety measure and the train continued its journey.

At approximately 2025 hours on Saturday, 9 December 1995, during a deer hunting sortie, the shooter, suspended on a strop beneath R22 helicopter ZK-HUH, fell onto a hard sand beach when the cargo hook opened unexpectedly. The shooter sustained severe internal injuries and died that evening. No definitive cause was established for the opening of the cargo hook. Civil Aviation Authority approval had not been sought for the carriage of a person on the strop, and special conditions to enhance the safety of a person so carried were not in place.