WorkSafe issues warning after fatal power line incident

WorkSafe has issued a warning to tradespeople after a truck-mounted crane struck live overhead power lines at a residential site, killing a timber delivery worker in 2023 

Wesley Talakai, 38, died in August 2023 while delivering timber to a building site on Tauhinu Road, Greenhithe, Auckland. The crane he was operating was working just 2.5m from live overhead lines when it struck the lines, causing fatal electrocution. This was well inside the legal 4m exclusion zone. 

Talakai, a father of two, had reportedly raised safety concerns about site access and the proximity of power lines with his employer, NZ Solid Limited. Despite this, the company instructed him to proceed, supplying the site access code. 

NZ Solid has since been convicted under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. Judge Anna Fitzgibbon fined the company $330,000 at North Shore District Court. A suppression order prevents publication of the reparation sum ordered to Talakai’s family. The sole director of NZ Solid, Wei Li, declined to comment on the case. 

WorkSafe says death was preventable 

WorkSafe regional manager Brad Duggan said the incident was “a timber delivery that went tragically wrong” and described the death as preventable. He said the company failed to identify and manage known hazards, including working near live overhead lines. 

“Risk management isn’t a box-ticking exercise,” Duggan said. “It’s about making sure workers go home safe. That means planning the job, knowing the limits of your equipment, maintaining safe distances, and never assuming it’ll be fine.” 

WorkSafe’s investigation found NZ Solid relied on verbal instructions and an inadequate lift plan, and it failed to properly assess the risk of working near overhead powerlines. The company had not obtained the legally required consent from the line owner to operate within 4m of live lines. 

Duggan reiterated that working near electricity is a well-known hazard with clear controls.  

“Businesses and workers must stay clear of power lines and plan work carefully,” he said. 

WorkSafe’s rules for safe work near power lines 

As New Zealand’s primary health and safety regulator, WorkSafe has published detailed guidance for working safely near low-voltage overhead electric lines.  

They warn that touching a live low voltage overhead electric line with any part of the body, a tool or equipment can cause death or serious injury. 

The following key points are taken directly from its official publication and outline the legal and practical requirements to reduce the risk of serious injury or death: 

• If work needs to be done near a live low voltage overhead electric line, the safest option is to eliminate the risk of electric shock by having the electricity supply to the property isolated before work starts. 

• If isolating the electricity supply is not possible, workers must maintain a minimum approach distance (MAD) so that they keep their body, tools and equipment a safe distance from the overhead line. 

• • With written consent from the property owner, workers must maintain a MAD of at least 0.5m from the overhead line. 

• • Without written consent from the property owner, workers must maintain a MAD of at least 4m from the overhead line. 

• • The property owner owns the electrical assets inside the property boundary, including the overhead line. 

• There are also specific MADs for temporary structures (such as scaffolding) and mobile plant in use near an overhead line. 

• As well as maintaining a MAD, WorkSafe expects additional control measures to be used to minimise the risk of electric shock. 

• MADs are specified by law and are described in detail in the New Zealand Electrical Code of Practice for Electrical Safe Distances. 

• Always get advice from a competent electrical worker before work starts near a low voltage overhead electric line. 

To learn more, read the full guide at WorkSafe: Working near low voltage overhead electric lines.