New Zealand’s workplace safety watchdog has charged 13 parties as part of its investigation into last December’s White Island/Whakaari volcano eruption. Twenty two people died in the disaster and almost one year on, several survivors are still undergoing treatment for their injuries.
The volcano erupted while 47 people were on the island – including several tour groups and their guides. The 22 victims were from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, China, Britain and Malaysia.
Ten parties face charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act which carries a maximum fine of $1.5m (US$1.06m).
Three individuals are charged as directors or individuals who were required to exercise due diligence to ensure the company meets its health and safety obligations. These charges each carry a maximum fine of $300,000. The charges have been laid by WorkSafe, the county’s workplace health and safety regulator.
“This was an unexpected event, but that does not mean it was unforeseeable and there is a duty on operators to protect those in their care,” WorkSafe chief executive Phil Parkes said during a press conference on Monday.
“We investigated whether those with any involvement in taking tourists to the island were meeting their obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. We consider that these 13 parties did not meet those obligations.
“Those who went to the island, did so with the reasonable expectation that there were appropriate systems in place to ensure they made it home healthy and safe,” Parkes said.
He said New Zealand must ensure that “our mothers, fathers, children and friends come home to us healthy and safe at the end of each day.”
Parkes said he could not respond to the question of whether tourists should have been visiting the island at all as that would be covered in the court case.
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Two Government agencies, GNS Science, which is responsible for monitoring volcanic activity, and the National Emergency Management Agency, which provides leadership in reducing risk, being ready for, responding to and recovering from emergencies, have volunteered that they are among those charged.
In a statement on its website, GNS Science said it had yet to learn details of the charges it faces but “we stand by our people and our science”.
“We will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities, while carrying on with the crucial role GNS Science has in monitoring and sharing scientific information about Aotearoa New Zealand’s geo-hazards, including volcanoes.”
The principals of White Island Tours and Volcanic Air have reportedly also acknowledged that they companies were among those charged.
The parties were not named in the report because under New Zealand law, they have the right to seek suppression of their names in their first court appearance on December 15.
Twenty-two people lost their lives and a further 22 were seriously injured in the 9 December disaster. The tragedy occurred when the live volcano, a popular destination for day-trippers, erupted while guided groups were on the island. Most were tourists from visiting cruise ship Ovation of the Seas.
WorkSafe said in a letter to victims it was not naming the parties it had charged as they may seek suppression on their first appearance in court, Television New Zealand reported.
The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, welcomed the transparency from the government agencies, but said she would leave the case to the courts.
“We need this to be an independent process that people can have trust confidence and faith in,” she said.
Parkes said the investigation was the largest and most complex investigation in WorkSafe’s history.
The probe was looking only at organisations involved in the tourism operations, rather than the rescue operation.
White Island/Whakaari in New Zealand’s northeastern Bay of Plenty region and is regularly visited by the public on guided tours.
The volcano had been showing signs of unrest for several weeks before the 2019 eruption and three weeks before was rated at Volcanic Alert Level 2 indicating “moderate to heightened volcanic unrest”, due to increased activity.
Soon after the tragedy, the prime minister, Ardern, said official inquiries into the eruption and New Zealand’s response would take up to a year to conclude.
The WorkSafe investigation focused on the organisations that took the tourists to the island and did not cover the rescue and recovery of the dead and injured. Those actions may be the subject of other proceedings, such as a coronial inquest.
The investigation report would not be released because it was central to the criminal proceedings. Parkes said Worksafe, which also does safety audits of adventure tourism organisations, would review how it goes about its own work.
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