Company responsible for death of Jamey Bowring in site explosion says competitors also breaking the law

• A south Auckland hazardous substances company will pay $4 million in a landmark proceeds of crime settlement.
• Salters Cartage Limited owner Ron Salter said the company accepted its role in the death of Jamie Bowring.
• Salter said its competitors had also been in breach of requirements.

A hazardous substances haulage company that is being forced to pay $4 million over the death of an employee has questioned why police are not taking action against other similar companies.

Jamey Bowring, 24, was killed in 2015 when a tank exploded at the South Auckland site of Salters Cartage.

On Monday, the High Court in Auckland approved a $4 million proceeds of crime settlement - the first time the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 (CPRA) had been applied to a commercial business.

In addition to previous charges, the Police Commissioner sought to forfeit $11 million of assets from the company and from its owner, Ron Salter.

In a statement, Salter said his company decided to "cut their losses" and agree to a settlement rather than go through a planned seven-week civil trial.

"Many would have seen the CPRA as designed to target organised crime, rather than being used against otherwise lawful businesses alleged to have committed regulatory offences under the hazardous substances and health and safety regimes.

"While SCL would have liked to have taken the Commissioner's test case all the way [through courts], to see whether cases like this are really what the CPRA is intended for, this proceeding has already taken long enough and cost us significantly."

Prior to 2015, the company was not compliant with regulations around the handling of dangerous substances, he said.

He pleaded guilty to WorkSafe charges in 2017.

But Salter argued other industry players should be held to the same standard.

"SCL knows, as do the regulators, that many of the other industry players - SCL's competitors - were also in breach, and may well remain so, yet no action was taken against them under the hazardous substances regime, let alone the CPRA."

Salters' competitors were and may still be in breach of waste oil requirements, for example, he said.

"Prior to 2012 SCL and other waste oil processors did not believe that the hazardous substances regime applied to waste oil.

"Whether and to what extent it did was, at best, a matter of some debate from 2012 when the regulator suggested for the first time that it should, despite the wording of the legislation remaining unchanged."

There had been a belief within the industry that there was a transitional period to allow existing facilities to become compliant, he said.

"Despite that, SCL became compliant from soon after the accident. Others in the industry were not and some are still working on it."

The company accepted its role in Bowring's death, but needed to be able to move forward, Salter said.

"SCL recognises the tragic loss of life in 2015 and its role in not preventing that. That will not be forgotten and will continue to drive us every day to remain focused to avoid any recurrence.

"But as a company trading in a competitive industry, SCL also need to be able to move on and take up new opportunities so resolving this proceeding will allow it to do that."