Former port boss to pay $190k

Tony Gibson, Port of Auckland’s former chief executive, has been fined $130,000 and ordered to pay $60,000 costs in relation to the death of a stevedore.

Pala’amo (Amo) Kalati, a father of seven, died in August 2020 at the Fergusson Container Terminal.

Maritime NZ subsequently filed two alternative charges against Gibson under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) alleging a breach of his duties as an officer.

It was the first prosecution of its kind against a chief executive related to a workplace death, reports 1News.

Judge Steve Bonnar KC found that by failing to comply with his duty under section 44 to exercise due diligence to ensure Port of Auckland Ltd (POAL) complied with its duties under the HSWA, Gibson exposed its stevedores to a risk of death or serious injury, namely, the risk of being struck by objects falling from operating cranes.

The company was also charged and previously pleaded guilty to two charges under section 48 of the act and fined $561,000 late last year. 

Gibson, POAL’s chief executive from 2011 to 2021, attended Auckland District Court on February 21 to be sentenced over his category-one offence, which is only punishable by a fine.

Judge Bonnar told the court the former port boss was generally a “hands-on CEO in relation to health and safety issues at the port”, reports 1News. 

However, the judge said that in this instance, Gibson “failed to exercise the care, diligence and skill” required of a reasonable officer.

He was fined $130,000 after Judge Bonnar applied a $10,000 discount for prior good character and ordered to pay Maritime NZ $60,000 in costs.