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Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A door installation company has been ordered to pay more than $200,000 after a pastor was crushed to death by a roller door at her West Auckland church.
Pastor Helen Verry, 44, died at Church Unlimited in Glendene on 30 January, 2022 after being seriously injured by the collapse of a 273kg powered roller grille door.
Verry was the youngest of 15 children. One of her brothers was former All Black Va’aiga Tuigamala, who died less than a month after Verry, at the age of 52.
Following her death, the company that installed the door back in 2009, Scotty Doors, was charged by WorkSafe under the Health and Safety Employment Act 1992.
A similar failure now would have harsher penalties due to the Health and Safety at Work Act of 2015, WorkSafe said.
Last week, the company was sentenced at the Waitākere District Court. It was ordered to pay a $41,250 fine and a further $162,000 in reparations.
Verry’s death had been a “tragic consequence” of poor workmanship, WorkSafe’s area investigation manager Steve Kelly said.
The door fell from its fixing while Verry was trying to close it manually, using a hand chain as the motor was not working.
The WorkSafe investigation found the roller door was fixed through a piece of plywood and gib board with screws that were too short to properly hold up the weight.
“Scotty Doors failed to ensure the appropriate fastener was used to secure the door,” Kelly said.
“More consideration should have been given to the type and length of screw being used given the presence of the plywood.”
Kelly noted the length of the screws at one end failed to comply with the building code due to the thinness of the plywood.
“Scotty Doors should have identified the door wasn’t installed safely or in compliance. The registration form they signed said the door had been installed in the church lounge and checks had been completed – including the door being attached to a solid fixing.”
The fine and reparations Scotty Doors was ordered to pay were a reminder to companies that if they contributed to unsafe work, they would be held to account, Kelly said.