SafeWork NSW and SA issue urgent warnings after fatal farm accidents

Urgent call for safety on farms

SafeWork NSW is reminding farmers to wear seatbelts, use helmets and choose the right vehicle when using side-by-side vehicles, quad bikes and motorcycles after a spate of incidents where people, including children, have been seriously injured or killed while using farm vehicles. Additionally, accidents involving workers being seriously injured or killed by ‘run-away’ farm equipment in the past month have prompted a SafeWork SA warning.

WorkSafe NSW: Recent incidents - the importance of seatbelts, helmets and vehicle safety

SafeWork NSW is reinforcing the importance of safety measures for farmers using side-by-side vehicles, quad bikes, and motorcycles. This comes in the wake of several incidents, including fatal ones involving children, highlighting the dire consequences of neglecting safety protocols such as seatbelt and helmet use, and choosing the correct vehicle for farming tasks. A recent accident in Coonamble, NSW, on February 14, severely injured a 37-year-old man and a four-year-old, with investigations revealing that neither was wearing a helmet.

Investigations and safety enforcement

The agency is investigating three fatalities since the start of the year, each underscoring the absence of basic safety measures like helmets and seatbelts. These include:

• On January 8 in Goohli, a side-by-side vehicle being driven by an adult with two child passengers were mustering cattle when the ATV rolled into a dam trapping and causing the death of one of the child occupants. Initial enquiries indicate that none of the occupants may have been wearing their seatbelts.
• On January 25 in Narromine, a 51-year-old man died after being ejected from a moving side-by-side vehicle while undertaking farm-related work. Again, initial enquiries suggest that the seatbelt was not being worn.
• On February 1, a 32-year-old female contractor was thrown from a motorbike and suffered fatal injuries on a property 120 km east of Tibooburra while not wearing a helmet.

In response to these tragedies, Trent Curtin, Head of SafeWork NSW, emphasized a zero-tolerance policy for safety breaches:

“Where SafeWork Inspectors come across workers operating side-by-side vehicles not wearing seatbelts or operating quad bikes without wearing helmets or having an operator protective device fitted, they will be taking a zero-tolerance approach and issue notices and fines.”

“The safety features on your vehicle could save your life. It is an unnecessary tragedy when workers operating vehicles with numerous safety features including roll-over protective structures and seatbelts lose their lives by simply not wearing their seatbelt.

Adhere to load limits to prevent rollovers.

Curtin further noted the dangerous potential of quad bikes, which have been involved in over 56 deaths in NSW since 2001, with an additional 20 fatalities from side-by-side vehicle incidents. He highlighted the risk of rollovers, even at low speeds and on flat terrain, and advised adherence to manufacturer’s instructions regarding load limits to prevent control issues and rollovers.

“A quad bike can weigh 400 kilos and reach speeds of more than 50 kilometres per hour. They are extremely dangerous and are certainly not a machine a child under the age of 16 should ever operate or be a passenger on.

SafeWork SA’s alert on 'run-away' farm equipment

SafeWork SA has issued its warning following three recent incidents of 'run-away' farm equipment leading to serious injuries and a fatality. These incidents, including a farm worker critically injured on March 4 by a harvesting sweeper, emphasise the need for proper use of safety equipment like handbrakes or wheel chocks to prevent such accidents.

This recent incident follows two serious incidents in February. On 2 February, a farmer sustained critical injuries and later died after being crushed by a tractor. The farmer was repairing the tractor when it began rolling forward. He attempted to jump onto the tractor to stop it rolling and was run over by the rear wheel.

Four days later, another person was crushed by a run-away tractor on a Riverland property.

The main contributing factor to incidents involving run-away farm equipment is the failure to use safety equipment, such as handbrakes or wheel chocks, to prevent the object rolling away.

To reduce the risk of incidents and injuries occurring, employers must ensure:

• all operators of plant and equipment receive adequate information, training, instruction, or supervision necessary to protect all persons from risks to health and safety arising from work carried out
• all workers required to use plant which has safety devices installed are provided with information, instruction and training on the correct operation of these devices
• implementation of a system of work for the testing of safety devices prior to the operation of the plant which may involve a daily checklist or similar system of work
• plant and equipment are operated and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s requirements or those of a competent person
• workers and/or other persons do not deliberately defeat, or override safety devices fitted to plant and equipment.

Further reading on farm safety

Click on the following links below to ensure you are up to date with farm safety:

• Learn more about Farm safety here.‍
• Tractors | SafeWork SA‍
• Farmers-guidebook.pdf (safework.sa.gov.au)‍
• Safety Alert: Stop roll-away vehicles in their tracks‍
• Safe Work Australia Fact Sheet: Prevention of vehicle roll-aways and safe immobilisation

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Sources

Reality of ‘Run-Away’ Farm Equipment by SafeWork SA, 13th March, 2024.

Farmers warned – safety first around farm vehicles after three deaths this year by SafeWork NSW, 14th March, 2024.

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