New Zealand Meat Processor Charged in 2018 Flash Fire

A New Zealand meat processing company has been charged under the country’s Health and Safety at Work Act regarding a July 2018 boiler fire that left a worker with burns over 75% of his body.

WorkSafe, New Zealand’s primary workplace health and safety regulator, told the website Stuff that sentencing has been pushed back to May due to the country’s lockdown due to COVID-19.

The injured worker, a boilerman, found himself engulfed in a flash fire that burned his face, arms and chest, a union press release said. After being transported by medical helicopter, the worker was listed in critical conditions.

He later required skin grafts to treat the burns.

AFFCO is New Zealand’s fourth-largest meat processor and has nine plants across the country.