One of the most difficult industries in which to achieve occupational health and safety (OHS) improvements is farming, especially in areas where farming continues to be done by small family units. The safety culture of farming is unique as the workplace is embedded in community and rural culture. Some people believe that OHS regulators have …
Dr Tony Lower, Director of the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety has released his review of farm safety incident statistics for 2015. According to a media release (not yet online), Dr Lower found “…there were 69 on‐farm injury deaths. The main causes continued to be quads, accounting for 15 cases (22%), with two of these involving … Continue reading “Stats show quadbikes remain the leading cause of deaths on Australian farms”
Dave Robertson of Quadbar.com has provided this article on a recent finding and recommendations of a New Zealand Coroner. A New Zealand coroner, Brandt Shortland, recently handed down his findings on five farm-based quad bike deaths (Mendoza, McInnes, Ferguson, Cornelius and Van Der Pasch) that happened within six weeks of each other. Australian agricultural newspaper The Weekly … Continue reading “NZ Coroner describes quad bike safety dispute as a “Mexican stand-off””
In the next edition of the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA), Dr Tony Lower, Director of Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety and Monash University researchers ( Angela J Clapperton and Emily L Herde) will be providing more evidence about the death and injury rate associated with the use of All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV) and … Continue reading “New quadbike safety research in a time of political change”
Australian research has provided an important additional element to discussions on the safety of using quad bikes as work vehicles on Australian farms. According to a media release to be published on 3 April 2013 from the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety (ACAHS): “Two new papers released today in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health ….indicate that the costs … Continue reading “Quad bike fatalities cost an average of at least $2.3 million”
On 19 October 2012 in a video address to an Australian forum on quad bike safety, the US Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Robert Adler stated “We at the US CPSC are monitoring your activities closely with the hope that what you learn can help us back here in the United States.” That places considerable attention on the … Continue reading “The world looks to Australia for quad bike safety changes”
Dr Tony Lower of the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health & Safety has released new information about deaths and injuries associated with quad bike use in Australia for 2011. His report lists media reports that “There were at least 23 quad bike related fatalities and 56 major injuries, many of which are likely to be life‐changing…” He also continues … Continue reading “The fact that quad bike use is dangerous needs a fresh communication strategy”
