# Call for hire companies to ensure equipment safety after fatal crash

Date: 11 Nov 2026
Released by: WorkSafe New Zealand

## MediaRelease.co Summary

Kerikeri Tool Hire 2015 Limited was fined $140,000 and ordered to pay $333,833 in reparation in the Kaikohe District Court on 9 November 2026 after pleading guilty to a Health and Safety at Work Act charge. A twin-axle trailer it had modified and hired out fishtailed on 28 December 2024 and hit a car head-on, killing driver Mandy Mackenzie and injuring five others. WorkSafe urged hire companies to assess modifications before hiring out equipment.

## Original release

A Northland tool hire company has been sentenced after a trailer it had modified and hired out fishtailed and collided head-on with a family car, killing the driver and injuring five others. Kerikeri Tool Hire 2015 Limited was sentenced in the Kaikohe District Court on 9 November 2026 after pleading guilty to a Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 charge for failing to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that people were not put at risk by its hire of a modified trailer. Judge Shortland ordered the company to pay a $140,000 fine plus reparation to the victims of $333,833. On 28 December 2024 the company hired a twin axle trailer and mini loader to a member of the public. It had previously extended the trailer’s ramp locking bars so heavier plant could sit further back on the deck, which altered the ramp pitch and affected the trailer’s balance and load distribution. As the customer was driving to return the trailer and loader, it began to fishtail, crossed the centre line and hit a car head-on. The driver, Mandy Mackenzie, sustained fatal injuries. Her husband and three other passengers suffered minor injuries, another passenger was seriously injured and needed three hand surgeries, and the trailer driver suffered minor injuries. “A family has lost a mother and a wife, and another person has been left with serious injuries, in a tragedy that could have been prevented,” says WorkSafe regional manager Brad Duggan. “When a business changes a piece of equipment and then hires it out, it takes on responsibility for making sure it is safe for the people who use it and everyone else they encounter while it’s being used.” WorkSafe says equipment hirers and anyone who modifies equipment should take these lessons from the case: Modifications change the risk. Assess any change to equipment for its effect on safety before it is used or hired out. Don’t hire out until it’s confirmed safe. If there is doubt, the equipment stays in the yard. Don’t leave it to the customer. Hirers know their equipment’s limits and modifications and owe duties to others at risk, including anyone present where the equipment may be used. Review your equipment now. Check for past modifications and make sure each has been properly assessed. “Our thoughts are with Mandy Mackenzie’s family and everyone affected by this crash,” says Brad Duggan. “We urge every business that hires out equipment to look at what it supplies and how it has been changed, and to act before someone is hurt.” Kerikeri Tool Hire 2015 Limited was sentenced at Kaikohe District Court on 9 November 2026. A fine of $140,000 was imposed and reparations of $333,833 Kerikeri Tool Hire 2015 Limited was charged under sections 36(2)(a), 48(1) and 48(2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015: The maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding $1.5 million.

## Key details

- Issued by: WorkSafe New Zealand
- Published: 11 Nov 2026
- Publisher country: New Zealand

Original source: https://www.worksafe.govt.nz/about-us/news-and-media/call-for-hire-companies-to-ensure-equipment-safety-after-fatal-crash/
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