Farmer reflects on life-changing accident
Five years on, Levin farmer George Thompson reflects on his life-changing accident and says it's great to see more support for farmers to make the industry safer.
From 2019 to 2023, there were 22 quad bike-related fatalities in New Zealand, most involving rollovers and steep grades.
Now, Safer Farms, Rabobank, ANZCO Foods, LIC, Craigmore Sustainables and PGG Wrightson have teamed up with retailers Trax Equipment and Quadbar to offer a discount of up to 75% for the CPDs.
The devices provide space underneath an upturned quad bike by spreading the weight of the bike and either creating space for survival or allowing the bike to roll off the occupant.
The incentive programme is led by Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to leading and inspiring a safer farm culture throughout New Zealand, to ultimately prevent injury and fatalities on farm.
Safer Rides is part of Safer Farms’ Farm Without Harm strategy, a whole-of-sector and whole systems approach to design preventable harm out of New Zealand’s farming systems.
Wairarapa farmer and Farm Without Harm ambassador Lindy Nelson says Safer Rides will reduce the cost of making quad bikes safer, with the aim of urgently addressing the high number of fatalities on farms.
“Quad bikes can be great workhorses for farmers so making sure existing ones are made safer is one of the areas we are addressing,” Nelson says.
Right now, Nelson says, the campaign is focusing on CPDs because farmers and members say they work and have saved lives.
“We know farmers are under financial pressure right now,” she says. “This is practical support that means cost shouldn’t get in the way of safety.”
Nelson says that vehicle harm – particularly from quad bikes – is a leading cause of death and near misses that could become a serious injury or fatality.
“We urgently need to make fail safe solutions more available. The past year has been our deadliest yet for ATV-related fatalities in New Zealand, with the majority involving roll-overs,” she says.
“Farm Without Harm recognizes that solving this problem is going to require all of industry coming together and the Safer Rides programme is a practical way the industry is supporting farmers.”
Farmers will be able to apply for a heavily discounted CPD via a redeemable voucher to the value of $400, meaning close to half of the retail price is covered by Safer Rides.
Grace Eglington, agribusiness analyst at Rabobank, says the health and safety of farmers is paramount.
“We need more solutions to minimise injury and fatalities on farm, and this is one way we hope to make a difference,” she says.
Safer Farms and Rabobank are piloting the incentive with an initial 100 discount vouchers available. Participating retailers are also providing a further 15 per cent discount.
Four CPD products are available under the programme. These are the QuadBar Original ($635) and Quadbar flexibar ($780) from Quadbar, and the QuadGuard ($838) and Lifeguard ($1724) from Trax Equipment.
Safer Farms is also looking for farmers to share their two cents on why CPDs have been the right choice for them.
To apply for a CPD discount code, farmers should visit: www.farmwithoutharm.co.nz/saferrides.
