October 27, 2022
Investigation call after forestry death
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood says a full investigation will be held into the latest forestry death.
42-year-old, Jason Rawiri, died in a logging accident at Ngātapa near Gisborne on October 14.
His wife Carol was told he was hit by a falling tree minutes after finishing his shift in what was described as a one-in-a-billion freak accident.
Mr Wood says it’s an utter tragedy.
“This is a huge area of focus for Worksafe and for me. I’m going to be visiting the region next month to meet with workers and to meet with Te Whanau a Apanui and others in the community around these issues. There will be a formal investigation from Worksafe. I imagine there will be a coroner’s review as well, and we need to get to the bottom of what happened,” he says.
Meanwhile, Candice Gate from forestry workers’ advocacy group Tāngata Humāria says Worksafe is failing to implement robust workplace safety systems, and it also failed to visit the site where Jason Rawiri’s mate took place.