Kawerau dispute

The report recommended that risk assessments and job safety analyses for hot work must give consideration to any constraints in the area where the hot work is to be carried out. The risk assessment should be applied systematically with monitoring to ensure the control measures are appropriate and effective.

A shipboard fire response is based on the vessel’s design, fire protection systems and crew numbers. During a co-ordinated incident response involving ship fires in a New Zealand port, the ship’s master might not be the incident controller. However, TAIC noted the master retains the overriding authority to make, and the responsibility for making, decisions regarding the safety and security of the vessel. The master is responsible for the safety of life on board, the care of the cargo and protecting the marine environment from ship-borne pollution. Fire and emergency responders need to take this into account as part of their responses to ship fires.

It was noted that similar recommendations had been made following a similar incident in Tauranga in 2018, but these reviews had not been completed in 2020 when the Kota Bahagia fire occurred. Work on updating FENZ procedures around ships fires has since then been carried out, but a revised training regime was not yet in place. TAIC has asked this be done urgently. TAIC also recommended that PIL take further steps to ensure that the safety precautions are implemented effectively on board their vessels.

The principal purpose of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) is to determine the circumstances and causes of [selected aviation, marine, and rail] accidents and incidents with a view to avoiding similar occurrences in the future, rather than to ascribe blame to any person.

Supporting locked out Essity Pulp and Paper workers in Kawerau, from left, MUNZ Auckland Branch Secretary Russell Mayn, Pulp and Paper Workers Union Secretary Tane Phillips, delegate Simon Goddard, and MUNZ National Secretary Craig Harrison. Mr Harrison says maritime workers and other unions are contributing financially to the 145 locked out workers and would ramp up support if the employer continued to try and starve the workers into submission.

Credit: Grant Williams