Exclusive: Former Talley's employee feared he would die on the job

Boxes of frozen food on the floor of a Talley's factory.

Allegations of dangerous health and safety breaches at Talley’s, one of New Zealand’s biggest employers, continue to mount following a 1 NEWS investigation which aired last night.

Former employees have since contacted 1 NEWS, with one even quitting out of fear they would die on the job while working in a cold store at the company’s Ashburton factory.

Leaked photos show massive storage containers holding hundreds of kilos in frozen peas and potatoes fallen from a height and shattered on the ground at their Ashburton factory.

Frozen peas spilled on the floor of a Talley's factory.

“I didn't want to go to work. I wondered each day if I'd come home in one piece,” one whistleblower told 1 NEWS.

One employee feared for their life while working there.

The newly-obtained images follow a 1 NEWS investigation which aired last night where a whistleblower at the Ashburton plant warned a serious incident was “just a matter of time”.

“I'm sorry but these guys, they are lying to them, they are lying to their customers,” the whistleblower yesterday told 1 NEWS.

1 NEWS has chosen not to identify the whistleblowers involved for their protection.

Today, the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Michael Wood, put the company on notice.

“The message needs to be very clear to Talley's and other companies, that they have a fundamental responsibility and that goes right to the top of any company,” he said.

Talley’s is one of New Zealand’s largest food producers.

Wood also expressed support for WorkSafe’s deeper dive into Talley’s operations.

“I do know that WorkSafe does take these allegations seriously and are going to be having a look at whether Talley’s is performing in accordance with the expectations we have on them,” he said.

The trade union, E tū, is now following suit.

"We would love to talk with the person that you interviewed to see how we can support that site, but effectively that means that we have to get access to the site," an E tū team leader Ross Heslop said. 

As allegations from the factory floor continue to mount, 1 NEWS spoke anonymously to two former employees who left within the last 18 months.

Both claim that cold stores carry a serious crush risk as the wood on their storage containers become brittle when it’s in the freezer.

“They break easily and they fall and collapse, and you can be working in there and you've got, suddenly, a stack of bins falling straight towards you,” one whistleblower claimed.

“You get three or four tonnes of french fries come down on your head, there's no two ways about it - you're dead!” the other added.

Filthy conditions in Talley's Ashburton factory.

Both say there were several near misses in their time on the job, and management were repeatedly told about the risk.

“These issues, we raised time and time and time again,” one whistleblower said.

“I raised concerns all the time,” another whistleblower added.

In response today, Talley’s sent 1 NEWS a brief statement confirming some of the incidents pictured happened 15 months ago.

The company claimed health and safety was of “paramount importance” to the company, saying they will “continually review our processes”.

However, their employees’ experiences continue to suggest otherwise.

“All you can think of is, ‘look up at the top of them’, ‘make sure none of them are moving’, and ‘are any of these going to come down on me?”

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