A Dunedin-based robotics and automation company has pleaded guilty after an employee was fatally crushed while working inside a machine at its workplace.
According to a report by Stuff, Michael Sherry, a 32-year-old father of two, died in a workplace accident at Scott Technology in April 2025 while carrying out pre-commissioning work on a variable independent path shoulder puller machine, known as the 365-Seafield machine.
The machine presented “significant crushing risks when energised and unguarded”, according to the summary of facts presented to the court.
WorkSafe charged Scott Technology under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. The case appeared before Judge David Robinson at the Dunedin District Court on Thursday morning, Stuff has reported.
A legal representative for the company appeared via audiovisual link and entered a guilty plea to an amended charge.
Judge Robinson entered a conviction, with sentencing scheduled for the new year. The charge alleged that Scott Technology had a duty to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the health and safety of its workers, as reported by Stuff.
It alleged the company failed to “comply with that duty, and that failure exposed workers to a risk of death or serious injury”, Stuff has quoted.
The company faces a maximum fine of up to $1.5 million.
According to the summary of facts, Scott Technology specialises in designing and manufacturing advanced automation technology.
Sherry, an experienced electrician, joined the company on July 20, 2023. The machine involved in the incident was designed to remove sheep pelts as carcasses moved through a meat-processing line and could be adjusted for different sheep sizes and types, as reported by Stuff.
The company ordered the VIP Shoulder Puller machine in late 2024, with Sherry assigned to work on its components.
On April 17, 2025, two workers from a hydraulics company installed a new hydraulic hose kit on the machine. However, they fitted an “incorrectly configured valve in the machine’s hydraulic system,” Stuff has quoted.
“This was a major factor leading to Mr Sherry’s fatality,” the summary of facts said.
The hydraulic company did not test the system that day, meaning any trapped air was not removed. When the workers left at about 3pm, they told a project engineer the machine was ‘good to go’, although some leaking fittings might need to be re-tightened.
An emergency lock was subsequently removed by a project engineer, after which the “machine was capable of being livened from this point of time,” as quoted by Stuff.
However, the company's health and safety process for working on live hazardous machinery was not initiated when Sherry began working on the machine that afternoon.
The Easter break followed, with no formal handover of responsibilities while some staff involved in the project were away.
Sherry returned to work on the machine on the morning of April 24. As other employees left the workshop for an all-staff barbecue, he was eventually left alone, with no other staff present by about 3.20 pm, Stuff has reported.
Sherry was working on an electrical junction box and entered the coned-off area using a safety ladder.
The summary said it appeared a valve had been incorrectly configured. Post-incident data showed that when Sherry reconnected the wiring and reset the circuit breaker, the system interpreted the action as a command for the machine to move towards him, Stuff has reported.
The machine carriage crushed Sherry's chest against its frame, causing fatal injuries to his ribs and spine.
“He would have lost consciousness in seconds,” the summary said.
An engineer later entered the workshop after hearing the hydraulic power pack running and discovered Sherry trapped inside the machine. Emergency services were then called.
Sherry's death notice, published by his wife and in reference to their two young children, aged three years and five months, described him as “the irreplaceable love of our lives,” as quoted by Stuff.
Originally from Australia, Sherry had “built a beautiful life with his family in Dunedin”, according to a Givealittle campaign set up following his death.
“A true lover of music and a friend to all who met him, Sherry’s warmth, laughter, and kindness touched countless lives. His sudden passing leaves an enormous hole in the hearts of everyone who knew and loved him,” Stuff has quoted.