WorkSafe is calling on the construction sector to "up its game" after a teenager was killed on a Bay of Plenty building site.
The workplace health and safety regulator has called out the industry for failing to keep employees safe, saying it has seen multiple incidents where workers handling large or heavy frames have been paralysed or killed.
It comes after two building companies were sentenced on Wednesday in relation to the death of a young apprentice.
Ethan Perham-Turner, 19, was just four months into his apprenticeship when a timber framing weighing 350kgs fell on him at a residential building site in Ōmokoroa, Bay of Plenty in March 2022.
A WorkSafe investigation found the risk was heightened by the framing being manually installed around the site, and a temporary support brace being removed just prior to the fatal incident. When one frame knocked another, it fell on the teenage apprentice, WorkSafe said.
Perham-Turner was working for Inspire Building Limited which was providing building labour for the main contractor Thorne Group.
Both companies were charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act in relation to the teenager's death.
WorkSafe said the businesses should have consulted each other on the framing installation plan and ensured a mechanical aid (such as a Hiab crane truck) was used.
"The death of a worker so young is an indictment on the construction sector. Ethan was new to the job and new to the task of maneuvering framing. He should have been provided with what he needed to be safe," WorkSafe's area investigation manager Paul West said.
"The safest way would have been to mechanically lift the framing into place, given its weight. This can come at little to no extra cost. In this case, the supplier delivering the framing had a Hiab and could have lifted it into place if asked."
West said the high number of deaths and injuries in the construction sector shows it is a "very dangerous industry".
According to WorkSafe, there were 62 work-related fatalities from July 2022 to July 2023, which averages roughly five deaths each month.
The construction industry had the third highest number of deaths during that time period, following the transport and agriculture industries.
"WorkSafe has seen other similar incidents where workers handling large or heavy frames have been paralysed or killed. It is unacceptable that companies are not identifying the risks and providing workers with a safe workplace," West said.
"We can only hope the death of a very young apprentice might motivate the step change required to improve the sector's health and safety performance."
In a statement sent to Newshub, Thorne Group said it accepts responsibility for the workplace incident and has expressed its sincere regret to Perham-Turner's family.
"Thorne Group remains deeply saddened by the incident and, while we can only imagine what Ethan's family are going through, they remain front of mind for us," Thorne Group said.
"We encourage all our industry partners to join us in taking steps to improve health and safety practices in residential construction."
Newshub has contacted Inspire Building for comment but has not received a response. The company posted a tribute on its social media after the teenager's death.
"Ethan was an eager, hard-working, and polite young apprentice and will be sadly missed from our team," it said.
Both companies were sentenced at Tauranga District Court on January 31.
Inspire Building was only fined $30,000 due to financial incapacity, while Thorne Group was fined $210,000.
Reparations of $130,000 were ordered to be paid to Ethan Perham-Turner's family, and $15,072 to his co-worker – a fellow apprentice.
