Govt to rethink farm health and safety rules with practical reforms
Farmers are welcoming new Government proposals to make farm health and safety rules more practical and grounded in real-world farming.
A Gore farm machinery company’s shoddy repairs to a tractor have landed it with a fine of $239,063 and reparations of $103,459 awarded to an injured farm worker.
“Vehicle service industries must ensure diligent workmanship, systems and practices in the work they do to prevent injuries to users,” says WorkSafe head of specialist interventions, Simon Humphries.
His comments arise from the recent sentencing in the Gore District Court of farm machinery business Agricentre South Ltd for its ineffective repairs to the brakes on a tractor it supplied: the brakes failed and the machine ran over a worker.
Michele Bastiaansen suffered leg wounds and fractures to her neck vertebrae, humorous and wrist when she fell from a trailer being towed by a tractor driven by her husband Francis.
The company in 2015 bought (as a trade-in) a 2002 New Holland tractor, determined that the brakes were not working properly, and so replaced the brake master cylinders, expecting this work to rectify the problem. But it did not determine why the parts had failed.
During a pre-purchase trial in early April 2016, the Bastiaansens were using the tractor and a trailer to transport timber to a shed with Mrs Bastiaansen aboard the trailer.
While driving up a 25-degree slope, Francis Bastiaansen applied the brakes but they did not stop the tractor. The combination rolled backwards down the incline, jack-knifed and the trailer detached from the tractor. Mrs Bastiaansen was thrown from the trailer into the roadway where the tractor rolled over her.
WorkSafe found that Agricentre South did not tell its staff about the tractor’s repair history, did not ensure the tractor had working brakes and did not get the warning lights reconnected and working after the repair job.
“The vehicle servicing industry, including companies servicing farm machinery, needs exceptional diligence to ensure the safety of the users of vehicles and plant,” Humphries said.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
Environment Southland's catchment improvement funding is once again available for innovative landowners in need of a boost to get their project going.
The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
OPINION: The phasing out of copper network from communications is understandable.
Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Amy Toughey's journey from juggling three jobs with full-time study to working on cutting-edge dairy research trials shows what happens when hard work meets opportunity - and she's only just getting started.