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PG2000’s owner at the time, Lehn, was given a series of remedies to resolve ventilation issues and the exposure of workers to cobalt. Mr Moore still has nosebleeds, often at work, and is experiencing motor problems (including dropping things often),” DOL documents say. No ACC claim has been made, no blood testing done. “Recently he saw his doctor after collapsing, who indicated possible poisoning. Moore’s ongoing nosebleeds, nausea, and headaches correlated with when he began cutting the cobalt alloy materials. Workers were often glistening with metal dust upon leaving work. Workers had been cutting the substance dry, without a deactivating coolant spray, and without extraction or suitable masks – leaving them potentially inhaling and ingesting significant quantities of the metal dust. Even so, samples taken on a Tuesday and Wednesday in February 2006 showed workers had “elevated levels that demonstrate significant exposure to cobalt”.ĭOL homed in on PG2000’s management of tungsten carbide in the workshop, and the chemical hazards associated with cutting and grinding it. It did, however, get the company to agree to monitor staff health with regular urine testing.Ī DOL letter warned PG2000 that tests should be done at the end of the last shift of the week to show the true level of exposure. Oddly, it appears no-one tested him specifically for cobalt.ĭOL never conducted any tests of either Moore or other PG2000 workers when concerns were raised, or during its investigation. Moore recalls one DOL investigator telling him, “You’re loaded with cobalt, mate,” saying it would affect him for the rest of his life. Tests requested by his GP showed he had elevated enzyme and zinc blood levels, consistent with heavy metal poisoning. The Department of Labour (DOL) shared that concern and began an investigation in October 2005. The father of two started to wonder if it was linked to his workplace. “They were wanding me and scratching their heads.” On the way to Christchurch one day, Moore set off the airport metal detector in the same way he recalls a former colleague told him had happened to them. “We all thought that maybe he just had a flu, but it just went on for a long time.”

The flatmates watched as Moore deteriorated – continually ill, sluggish and washed out. Moore still visits Hastings Aerodrome, where he always hoped to continue his flight training. The fit, energetic man with a “heart of gold” worked long hours to fund his flying passion. He thought he “was some Christian dude on the straight and narrow – didn’t swear, didn’t drink”, Callaghan says. Then he would collapse and lose consciousness for up to 15 minutes.Ī friend once said to him: “Bloody hell mate, you look like a dead man walking.” The name caught on.įormer flatmate Tony Callaghan first met Moore when he joined their large Lyall Bay flat. Usually upbeat, he started having mood swings, and a “cruddy” feeling would wash over him like he was “going to burst into flames”. Moore remembers the insides of his nostrils burning as he worked, then later lying in bed with blood streaming from his nose. “All I could do to protect myself was hold it out as far as I could at arm’s reach and cover my face.” He says he would regularly ask his boss, Gunther Lehn, if what he was working with was safe, and Lehn would assure him it was “harmless”. He recalls another worker, “a really fit man”, becoming increasingly sick until he quit at the end of 2004 and Moore was offered a pay rise to take on his role.

In 2005, PG2000 Ltd – now under different ownership – was a central Wellington engineering workshop making and sharpening steel tools.Įighteen months in he was moved to another role – cutting a tungsten carbide alloy that contained 25% cobalt. So when a fitter and turner job came up in Wellington, he decided to knuckle down and work to earn the money to become a pilot. He was highly rated by his flying instructors, gaining a small scholarship to help with training.īut it was never going to be enough to fund an $85,000-$90,000 qualification. His grandfather, a WWII Royal New Zealand Air Force engineer, was a big part of his life too, so it was only natural that “as long as I remember, I have wanted to fly airplanes”.Īfter moving to Hawke’s Bay and starting a career in engineering, he joined the Aero Club in 2002. Gaining wingsĪs a boy growing up in Lower Hutt, Moore keenly attended air force events and airshows. He still regularly visits Hastings Aerodrome. Darren Moore’s life goal was to be a pilot, but ongoing health problems since his exposure to cobalt as a fitter and turner dashed that dream.

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