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A small community in South Waikato falters after a local farmer was electrocuted and his young elementary school daughter was hospitalized after a farm accident.
The 43-year-old man died Sunday night of being hit by live lines while trimming trees on farmland in Ngatira, southeast of Putaruru.
Her young daughter was also injured and was transported to Waikato Hospital by rescue helicopter in serious condition after the incident.
On Monday, a hospital spokesperson said the girl was stable in a ward.
In the small settlement of Ngatira, amid the rolling farmland not far from Lichfield, farm workers were coming to terms with the loss of their boss.
“It is absolutely tragic,” said Tania, one of the agricultural workers.
“Anyone who knew him was an absolutely amazing man. He would give you the shirt. He was a mentor and a good guy. Anyone you talk to anywhere will tell you the same thing.”
Tania, who has worked for the man and his wife for a few years, was in the milking shed when the power went out suddenly on Sunday afternoon.
“They are like a family to me, a beautiful couple.”
At around 4.50 p.m., the emergency services received a call reporting that two people had received electric shocks from power lines in a rural address.
A Worksafe spokesman said the dead man was understood to be cutting down trees on the farm at the time.
Three ambulances and two Putaruru firefighters rushed to the scene.
Putaruru Fire Chief Nathan Bennetto said some of the crew members who attended knew the victim through circles in the local community.
“The crew came out quickly and did their best. They were dedicated and certainly everyone was needed.”
Firefighters helped St. John staff perform CPR and treat burns for victims, he said.
“I spoke to the teams when they came back and had a report on their mental well-being. It can be difficult, especially when young children are involved, it can be expensive.”
The man also had other children and grew up in the Putaruru district.
A police spokesperson said it was a workplace incident that took place on a farm and that the matter had been referred to Worksafe for investigation.
This was the second death on a farm under the Level 4 blockade after another person died in a quad accident in Taranaki on April 1.
Although investigations of both incidents were ongoing, a Worksafe spokesperson wanted to remind companies to look closely at managing all risks in the workplace, not just those related to the Covid-19 transmission.
“New working conditions, such as supply chain pressures and backlog, must be considered in risk management and adequately mitigated.
“Parents and caregivers also need to assess the risk and activities in which they are involving their children and if they cannot adequately mitigate the risks, children should not be involved.
WorkSafe is consulting to establish whether to initiate a formal investigation.
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Emergency services were called to the rural farm in Ngatira, in the South Waikato district.
