In November 2024, the District Court found Tony Gibson, the former Chief Executive of Port of Auckland Limited (POAL), guilty of health and safety breaches in relation to the death of a stevedore on 30 August 2020. He has now been sentenced.

The decision was significant as it is the first time in New Zealand that an officer of a large company has been found guilty of breaching their due diligence duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. 

Mr Gibson was fined $130,000 and ordered to pay $60,000 in costs to Maritime New Zealand. Maritime New Zealand’s director and chief executive, Kirstie Hewlett, has said that she hopes the case will be a “strong reminder” to chief executives of large companies that they need to understand the risks of their business and put in place effective controls and systems to mitigate those risks. 

There is a great deal of concern about the implications of the Gibson case for directors and chief executives, particularly given that Mr Gibson did make considerable efforts to improve health and safety at the Port. It is important, however, to remember the circumstances of the case. Stevedoring is an inherently dangerous business, and the Judge noted that it has the second worst rate of injuries compared to other New Zealand industries. By international standards, New Zealand ports have high rates of fatalities, with 1.8 fatalities per year over the past 10 years. 

While no industry (however safe or dangerous) is excused from its health and safety obligations, the high risk nature of a stevedoring business (and Mr Gibson’s ‘hands on’ role in that business) meant that it was inevitable that Mr Gibson would be seen as having to do more than officers in many other organisations, especially non-executive directors. 

Nevertheless, the Court’s decision provides some key learnings that boards and managements teams should take away. Officers cannot rely on others to ‘do’ health and safety. Officers need to be proactive, seeking information about the critical risks workers encounter, and how work is actually done. They need to interrogate the information they receive from management and ensure there are effective systems in place to monitor and review the PCBU’s processes and practices, and ensure they are effective.

This alert was written with the assistance of Harriet Phillips, Solicitor, in our Employment team.