Three and a half years after the Whakaari/White Island volcano tragedy that killed 22 people and severely injured another 25, a long-awaited WorkSafe trial will begin today in the Auckland District Court. There’s a good breakdown of the details here – but long story short, the proceedings cover claims of alleged health and safety failures against 6 defendants. It won’t go into what happened on the day – instead, the trial relates to their preparedness to deal with the tragedy. Several parties have already pleaded guilty to the charges laid against them, including 3 tour companies on Friday, after WorkSafe initially laid charges against 13 parties in November 2020. WorkSafe chief executive Phil Parkes said the pleas “acknowledge the processes that should have been in place to look after people’s health and safety on the day Whakaari erupted”. The trial is set to wrap up in August.