WorkSafe withdraws charges against DHB and Skyline Aviation
New Zealand’s WorkSafe has withdrawn charges against Hawke’s Bay District Health Board (DHB) and the air ambulance service Skyline Aviation in connection to a man who died after falling from a stretcher
The 78-year-old man suffered serious injuries to his head when he fell from a stretcher while being transferred from an air ambulance to a road ambulance at Hawke’s Bay Airport in May 2018.
The air ambulance was operated by Skyline Aviation. After disembarking the aircraft, the patient fell from a lifting device when nurses transferred him to the road ambulance.
The man was returned to Wellington Hospital and died 10 days later.
Both the DHB and Skyline Aviation were charged by WorkSafe under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Now, WorkSafe has withdrawn the charges, after a review by the Crown showed there was insufficient evidence to proceed further.
Mike Toogood, Managing Director at Skyline, said: “Skyline's position has always been that it complied with its health and safety obligations in relation to the unfortunate incident.”
Kate Coley, Executive Director at Hawke’s Bay DHB, said ‘significant progress had been made’ to addressing commitments made by the DHB.
Editorial Team
The AirMed&Rescue Editorial Team works on the website to ensure timely and relevant news is online every day. With extensive experience and in-depth knowledge of the air medical and air rescue industries, the team is ready to respond to breaking industry news and investigate topics of interest to our readers.