Following several fatalities in Australia, a new side-by-side vehicle training course will be launched by SafeWork NSW to help prevent farm-related vehicle injuries and deaths.
The NSW Better Regulation Minister Kevin Anderson said the courses would be free and made available at several locations across NSW.
A 10-year-old boy was killed when a side-by-side bike rolled on a private property near Nowra last month. A 19-year-old survived the accident as he was contained within the rollbar of the vehicle.
Mr Anderson said it should be a requirement for all children to be educated about safe quad bike procedures and side-by-sides.
"The safety of you and your family is in your control," he said.
He urged farmers to take advantage of free quad bike and/or drone funding when they needed to access potentially dangerous parts of their farm.
"Agricultural vehicles such as quad bikes and side-by-sides are vital farming equipment, but we need to ensure our regional communities don't suffer the pain and lasting impact of losing a family member," Mr Anderson said.
"The new courses will compliment SafeWork NSW's $3.7 million Quad Bike Safety Improvement Program that includes two virtual reality experiences, designed to highlight the dangers of farming vehicles."
In May 2019 SafeWork NSW launched an A to Z Farm Safety Guide to help farmers improve health and safety across their operations.
The Minister said the NSW Government will continue to investigate opportunities to take other t raining to regional areas so men and women working on farms can implement greater safety measures as the farm sector was over-represented in workplace accidents.
"You probably know of someone who has been hurt or even died in a farm accident,' he told the NSW Farmers conference.
"The NSW Government will work in collaboration with farming community leaders, suppliers and other government agencies to help reduce the agriculture industry's over-representation in workplace fatality and serious injury data," Mr Anderson said.
"SafeWork NSW will coordinate the development of the statewide Farm Safety Days that are tailored to local farm communities and focus on key workplace risks like, quad bikes, animal handling, workshop safety and the storage and use of chemicals.
"In February we announced the Quad Bike Safety Improvement Program will funded through to June 2021 and I continue to advocate for a federally mandated safety standard that will require manufacturers install roll-bars to all quad bikes."
John Ellicott
journalist and author
journalist and author
