Four on-farm deaths in three weeks highlights dangerous industry
Wednesday, 30 September 2020
When Linda McLennan’s husband didn’t come home, and she saw searchers standing by a drain not far from the farmhouse, she was overcome by a feeling of dread.
Hamish, 57, died when his quad bike overturned and pinned him into the bottom of a farm drain.
News of another on-farm quad bike death this week, on the back of three other agriculture related fatalities in the last fortnight, brought the 2015 tragedy all back for McLennan.
“It’s devastation, when your husband goes out one day and doesn’t come back. It’s nothing you ever anticipate,” she said.
**READ MORE:
* Australia to make quad bike roll bars compulsory, will NZ follow?
* Quad deaths rise to 64 in last 13 years but no action on mandatory rollover devices
* WorkSafe to farmers: Preventing harm is not hard
**
Agriculture is second only to logging as New Zealand’s most dangerous industry and, despite efforts by regulators and industry groups, the number of on-farm workplace injuries and fatalities remains stubbornly high.
Insurance statistics show that at least five quads roll over on New Zealand farms every day.
On Monday a man in his 30s was killed in a farm accident involving a quad near Waipukurau in Central Hawke’s Bay.
A person was killed in a tractor accident in Te Kuiti on September 12, another person was killed using a tractor in Hastings on September 16, and 6-year-old Rozayah Hudson died in a dairy farm incident in Ōpōtiki the following day.
A consistent trend within the farming fatality statistics earlier this year was the prevalence of quad bike rollovers as the primary cause.
Of this year’s 17 deaths, already past last year’s total of 15 fatalities, six have involved quads and five of those rollovers.
Thirteen of the fatalities involved a vehicle of some kind, with falling hay bales, electrocution and a minor fall contributing to the remainder.
ACC said on average, five people died from quad bike-related accidents each year, and they received more than 1000 claims for work-related quad bike accidents, costing $12 million.
In June last year WorkSafe announced it strongly recommended the use of crush protection devices (CPDs) on the back of quads and now offers a subsidy for them.
McLennan supported moves to make quad bike crush protection mandatory and believed if her husband’s vehicle had one, he might still be around today.
“He wasn’t wearing a helmet and I don’t know if that would have altered the situation, but if there was a roll bar, I think he would’ve been able to get out.”
She didn’t support any moves to ban quads.
“They’re not a plaything, and they’re to be treated with respect and care, but I wouldn’t be one to say ban them because they are such an important tool on the farm.”
McLennan said the loss of her husband was still fresh in her mind and it was at her daughter Ana’s wedding earlier this year that his absence was most strongly felt.
“That was hard but you take each day as it comes trying to find the new normal.”
Federated Farmers health and safety spokeswoman Karen Williams said there was no silver bullet in tackling farm safety but more regulation was not the answer.
“There has to be a real behaviour change and culture shift in the way we view our on-farm safety.”
Some farmers needed to “bust the bravado” and be more careful.
“Let’s not treat health and safety in the usual Kiwi ‘she’ll be right’ way when it’s a bit funny when things go pear-shaped because it's a great story to tell at the pub.
“Actually, let’s try to flip that round and not embrace that culture and say ‘it’s not about war stories we just want you safe’.”
Federated Farmers supported the voluntary use of crush protection devices but did not want them made mandatory.
WorkSafe New Zealand Engagement Lead for Agriculture Al McCone said despite years of work by a range of groups the rates of harm had not been reduced.
WorkSafe would be moving away from general health and safety messages to more immediate interventions that prevented harm such as seat belts and crush protection devices.
Spring was a time of year when a lot of work was taking place.
“It is a time of variable weather and growth, and variable ground surface conditions. Slope surfaces are especially tricky at this time of year.”
Safer Farms (Agricultural Leaders’ Health and Safety Action Group) general manager Tony Watson said insurance statistics showed at least five quads rolled over on New Zealand farms every day.
“Any time a quad bike rolls there’s a chance somebody’s going to get caught. Inherently they’re not designed for what farmers use them for.”
Watson said the best advice he could give farmers was to be very careful with STCKY (S--- That Can Kill You) and quad bikes and machinery were high on that list.
By the numbers
NZ farm deaths by year
2011 – 6
2012 – 6
2013 – 7
2014 – 14
2015 – 17
2016 – 20
2017 – 8
2018 – 18
2019 – 15
2020 – 17