A central North Island pulp mill will have to pay more than $45,000 after an employee was injured in a 3.5m fall at a forestry site.
The worker was a kiln operator for Winstone Pulp International, and was trying to find a blockage in the kiln's cleaning system last February.
He climbed the metal frame of the cleaning system to check it, and when he opened a hatch, hot ash spewed out.
The worker was unable to close the hatch, and as he tried to climb back down he fell into an uncovered service pit, fracturing and dislocating his left foot.
The Ohakune-based company was fined $37,000 in the Palmerston North District Court today, and ordered to pay the worker $8100 in reparation.
Department of Labour acting service manager David Hulston says it is "simply unacceptable" there were no measures in place to protect the worker from hot ash and the fall.
"This employee has suffered serious injuries as a result of an accident which could have been avoided entirely if the right processes and procedures had been in place," he said.
According to Mr Hulston, the company has since improved its practices for managing blockages.
NZN