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Laboom Dyer with his son Noah. Dyer was 23 years old and working for Ports of Auckland when his gantry crane tipped over, causing fatal injuries.
Six-year-old Noah Dyer says he wants to grow wings to visit his father, who died in a work accident in Ports of Auckland.
Laboom Dyer died after his gantry crane overturned in the early hours of August 27, 2018.
Ports of Auckland was fined $ 540,000 in Auckland District Court and ordered to pay $ 130,000 in repairs to the Dyer family after admitting that it had failed to protect Dyer’s health and safety, risking his death.
The 23-year-old left behind a son, a family and his ex-partner, Natesha Reilly.
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Reilly wrote a victim impact statement in court for Judge Evangelos Thomas at sentencing on December 4.
SUPPLIED
A straddle truck in the ports of Auckland. (File photo)
The statement was not read in court but the family agreed to share it with Stuff.
She says her brother Tua informed her of Laboom Dyer’s death, despite being listed as an emergency contact on the company’s employment forms.
Reilly says that Noah insisted on sleeping with her in her bed after Laboom died.
“Noah didn’t want me to leave and he would always tell me, ‘Don’t go like dad did,’” she told the court.
“About a week after the incident, Noah would say to me, ‘The doctors fix everyone, why couldn’t they fix Dad?'”
Two years later, the boy still deeply misses his father.
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Tua Dyer says that everyone should be able to go to work and return safely to their family. His brother, Laboom, was killed in a crane accident in Auckland ports in August 2018.
“More than ever, Noah feels like his dad is close to him and he often makes comments about his dad or points and says his dad is there but doesn’t point to anything that I can see.”
Reilly says that Noah often asks about his father and how he died. He says, “I’m going to grow some wings and go see dad.”
Reilly told the court that she sent an email to Auckland ports, asking to be kept up to date on the company’s internal investigation.
She says the company told her that Dyer’s mother was the closest relative, and that they would only discuss the findings with her.
Court documents show that Worksafe found a number of deficiencies in the port’s health and safety regimen and training.
AUCKLAND PORTS
Three giant cranes were added to Auckland Harbor in October 2018.
The gantry cranes that Laboom Dyer drove are equipped with an alarm that sounds when the vehicle is in danger of tipping over.
The Port operated a bonus system that rewarded drivers who completed most container movements, but did not account for tip alarm triggers.
Laboom Dyer regularly received the bonus, but it also had one of the highest tip alarm rates.
Tua Dyer, Laboom’s brother, has launched a public challenge to Auckland Ports on Facebook, demanding to know what has changed at the City-owned company since his brother’s death.
So far he has received the support of friends and family but there has been no response from the company.
Tua Dyer used to work at Ports of Auckland and has friends who still work there.
You would like to see gantry cranes equipped with a mechanism that would shut down the engine if the driver did not fasten their seat belt.
“Those are million dollar machines, I don’t know why they don’t already have them.”
But Tua Dyer said some drivers don’t like wearing seat belts because they restrict their ability to turn their bodies in their taxis and search for blind spots.
Since Laboom Dyer’s death, Auckland ports have been prosecuted for two other fatal accidents.
The father of seven Pala’amo (Master) Kalati was crushed under a container.
The 31-year-old has been remembered for his “big smile and even bigger heart.”
Kalati, a longshoreman who he understands has only worked in Auckland ports for a couple of months, died in August on a ship at the Fergusson container terminal.
Another case involving Auckland ports ended the company and one of its captains fined after a pilot ship violating the speed limit at Waitematā port fatally struck ocean swimmer Leslie Gelberger in 2017.
Auckland City Council has commissioned an investigation into the port’s health and safety.
Stuff reached out to Ports of Auckland for comment, but the company did not respond by the deadline.
