Oropi Quarries Limited and its sole director Catherine Renner have been fined $100,000 after a 'litany of failures' lead to a Tauranga man's death last year.

Tane Hill-Ormsby died after being thrown from fully laden dump truck on Thursday, April 16, 2015.

Tane Hill-Ormsby died after being thrown from a fully laden dump truck he was driving at Oropi Quarries on Thursday, April 16, 2015.

The 24-year-old's 'tragic and preventable death” had its sequel in the Tauranga District Court yesterday when the company and its director were fined.

It was revealed in Court that in March this year - 11 months after the death - WorkSafe had to prohibit work at the same quarry after finding similar health and safety failings that led to the worker's death.

'It's almost beyond comprehension that having had a tragic and preventable death under their watch, the quarry operators had not learned the lessons and made sure everyone on that site was safe every hour it was working,” says WorkSafe's chief investigator Keith Stewart.

Prosecutor Anna Longdill said in court, the question from the family is why Tane Hill-Ormsby was driving a fully laden 40 tonne Moxy down an incline without a licence or training, when he had only just started the job.

The only training he received in the use of the 40 tonne articulated dump track involved some advice from other employees, says Anna.

As well as the Health and Safety in employment charges, Oropi Quarries Ltd pleaded guilty to charges under the mining operations and quarrying legislation. There was no required quarrymaster, a person appointed to supervise the various aspects of the operation, and there had not been one for some time when Tane was employed.

There were no service records for any of the vehicles. The vehicle Tane was driving had a number of defects and was missing its door. He was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.

At a sentencing hearing last Friday, the employer, Oropi Quarries Limited (OQL) and its sole director Catherine Renner were accused of a 'litany of health and safety failures” by the prosecutor.

In a reserved judgment released late yesterday, the Judge Paul Mabey ordered emotional harm reparations of $100,000 to be paid to the family (OQL $80,000 and Catherine Renner $20,000). He also fined OQL $54,000 and Catherine Renner $9600.

WorkSafe outlined to the court 14 steps OQL should have taken to ensure the victim's safety.

'There were significant issues with vehicle maintenance; failures to train the worker; a lack of policy on wearing seatbelts; and a lack of supervision.

'After the incident, WorkSafe had the vehicle inspected by independent experts – their reports identified 32 faults with the vehicle ranging from mismatched and over-inflated tyres to a missing door on the cab.

'The failures by this company and its director to ensure this young worker was able to go home healthy and safe have a left a mother without her only son, a partner who was looking forward to a marriage that will never happen, and a four-year-old without a father.”