Heat goes on quad bike safety

So says WorkSafe NZ’s François Barton, following two recent deaths on farm quads and suggestions that farmers are getting mixed messages about quad safety. 

Rural News is aware that some senior Beef + Lamb NZ staff and elected members are at odds about some aspects of WorkSafe’ s approach, believing it fails to understand the practicalities of farming life. 

Some people are worried that farm advisors, such as accountants and bank managers, can only get around a farm by riding pillion on a quad, deemed unsafe by WorkSafe.

Barton concedes there is “confusion and anxiety” about the law and what it might mean to farmers and their way of life. However, he says some farmers and farmer organisations should understand the critical risks on farm and look at ways of managing these better.

“WorkSafe’s position is that having passengers on a quad that wasn’t designed to carry passengers adds to its instability and increases its chance of rollover,” Barton told Rural News. “WorkSafe does not see carrying passengers as a safe practice. 

“Talk to any of the four or five families who lost someone in a quad accident last year about how their life has been truly changed – tragically and forever. 

“There is an opportunity and a need for leadership in the agricultural sector and WorkSafe is getting alongside Federated Farmers, DairyNZ and other organisations, helping them to help the sector.” 

Barton says the $40,000 fine imposed on a Marlborough farming couple late last year for not wearing helmets on their quads has had a reaction industry-wide – some of it negative, he admits. But there was a simple way to avoid being fined: comply with repeated requests and orders. “It is not a [big] hill to climb to use these things safely,” he adds.

Barton says the messages on quad safety have gained traction in the media – in particular about wearing helmets.  But this reaction can be likened to the response to the ban on using cellphones in cars: cellphones are not the only cause of driver distraction and, similarly, head injuries are not the only cause of death in quad crashes.

“The leading cause of quad deaths is being crushed when one rolls on top of a person. Rollover is the leading cause, but head injury is a real, tragic outcome of quad accidents,” Barton says. “Some people think helmets will solve everything, but they don’t. However, if I was riding a quad I would want to be protecting my head from accident.”

Meanwhile, Barton praises Landcorp’s action on quad use and overall farm safety. He says its decision not to use quads in certain environments is smart and shows its commitment to safety.

“It’s interesting that WorkSafe didn’t make that decision,” he says. “Landcorp took ownership of the problem: it thought about it, looked at the evidence, the other options and took control of the solution. 

“Safety… doesn’t start and finish with following a bunch of rules and regulations. It takes ownership of the things that can kill and injure, and there are lot of options on how you can manage those,” Barton says.