Farmers fined $40k by OSH for quad bike accident

[p.dath]

Just heard on the radio a farmer has been fined about $40k by OSH when an employee on a quad bike rode into a wire going across the paddock.

OSH determined that the lack of a helmet was a contributing factor to the injuries incurred (as opposed to the accident), and that by not wearing a helmet the farmer had failed to provide a safe working environment.


I guess next the farmer will be having to put high viz markers on the fence - just to make sure.

[JimO]

go onto a building site and have a look at the hazzard signs, fucked if i know how i have survived all these years without them, saw some builders working on a single story council flat today wearing glow in the dark vests and hardhats, earmuffs etc its a wonder they have time to do any work with all the shit they were wearing

[Virago]

go onto a building site and have a look...

No sorry, can't do that - not without a Site Safe Passport.

Got to do my two-yearly renewal on Friday - another half-day wasted for myself and one of my guys.

[Pedrostt500]

Ive had the site safe pasport for about the last 6 yrs havent been asked to show it to any one yet.

[Subike]

Is this not the very result that has been asked for in the threads about the cost of ACC?
Here we have the injury cost being extracted from the looser who did not take the standard saftey precaution on a quad of wearing a helmet.
Are we that shallow that we will moan about ACC , and the cost supposedly put onto our registration ACC levey by farmers...
Then we moan because OSH enforces a ruling that a helmet must be worn.
I have to say that I am on the OSH side in this one.
I have to ride a quad for 11hrs a day during the harvest season in the Vineyards doing bird scaring, I have to wear a hi viz vest and a helmet, its part of the safty requirments of my job. It is uncomforable and the vest is hot.
But its a requirement of the job I choose to do, so I wear it.
Good on OSH for enforcing the fine,
Maybee we will now see less youngsters being injured by quads.
$40k is a big deterant to being complacent.

[varminter]

They are now breeding high vis' cows in the interest of safety.

[duckonin]

Just heard on the radio a farmer has been fined about $40k by OSH when an employee on a quad bike rode into a wire going across the paddock.

OSH determined that the lack of a helmet was a contributing factor to the injuries incurred (as opposed to the accident), and that by not wearing a helmet the farmer had failed to provide a safe working environment.


I guess next the farmer will be having to put high viz markers on the fence - just to make sure.

Trouble with dairy farmers they are always changing staff,and they get some roughies, amazes me the speed some of the farm staff ride at, 4 most it may be the first time on a big powerful quad, some of which are in excess of 500cc, it is the WOW power factor....Buggar employing staff in this day and age, some of the buggars with their stupidity would get you hung even in a safe environment..

[98tls]

They are now breeding high vis' cows in the interest of safety.

Yep.............

[bucket boy]

Trouble with dairy farmers they are always changing staff,and they get some roughies, amazes me the speed some of the farm staff ride at, 4 most it may be the first time on a big powerful quad, some of which are in excess of 500cc, it is the WOW power factor....Buggar employing staff in this day and age, some of the buggars with their stupidity would get you hung even in a safe environment..

The worst part about farming having to hire people

[sosman]

So if we are paying for the looser,why the farmer paying $40.000

[JimO]

No sorry, can't do that - not without a Site Safe Passport.

Got to do my two-yearly renewal on Friday - another half-day wasted for myself and one of my guys.

i dont do much commercial work but was working for a large car dealership directly for the owner not the builders when the forman asked me about my site safe passport, i said i dont have one, he said well you cant work on our site without one, i said no worries you pop over and see the head honcho and tell him that they wont be able to load their cars into the showroom on friday because the tiler isnt allowed to finish the job, he left me to it after that but the next day the big boss comes over to me and says they have had a complaint that i wasnt wearing steelcaps only gymshoes, i offered to let him hit my toes with a hammer and that they were a steel capped work shoe, he wasnt impressed with the builders and a couple of days later some guy from the builders office apologised to me. These same "sitesafe" builders were using a 2 lift mobile scaffold without a handrail and were working on a roof without a guardrail or harneses

[Katman]

I have seen some hideously unsafe farm bikes come into my workshop and have had the owners saying "Nah, don't worry about doing those wheel bearings and I'll sort out that crack in the frame another time" etc, etc...... They get told that if they're not prepared to let me repair any safety issues on their bike then I'd rather not work on it at all.

The worrying thing is that a lot of the time it isn't the owner of the bike having to use the death trap. It's their poor unsuspecting workers.

[Fatt Max]

I had to renew my electrical practisicing licence a few years ago. We were sitting in this classroom and one of the guys down the back asked the instructor for a pen.

The instructor replied:

"Sorry, I cant give you a pen because I do not have the time to train you in the correct use of a pen."

The guy (naturally) replied with astonishment containing a few expletives, as did the rest of us, and the instructor continued:

"you see, a pen has a sharp point on it, you could poke yourself in the eye or stab yourself or someone else. It also contains a poisionous liquid that you could drink etc. There are hazards attached to this pen the time permitted for this course does not allow me to train you how to use one"

The point was that this guy could not lend (or, in his words, issue) a pen as it is then deemed 'work equipment' and he is obliged to provide relevant training.

So, this farm hand gets injured, he does not hear a helmet and the farmer gets done for it. There is a certain amount of responsibility to be taken here but, as in my example above, the law and legislation sometimes makes a real arse of it.

When I told the pen story to one of the old boys down the RSA, he responded by saying:

"Those fuckers in London did'nt think much for our health and safety when we were fighting it out in '42, eh".

My $0.02c for the sake of it....

[MaxB]

I have to ride a quad for 11hrs a day during the harvest season in the Vineyards doing bird scaring, I have to wear a hi viz vest and a helmet, its part of the safty requirments of my job. It is uncomforable and the vest is hot.
But its a requirement of the job I choose to do, so I wear it.
Good on OSH for enforcing the fine,
Maybee we will now see less youngsters being injured by quads.
$40k is a big deterant to being complacent.

You can get mesh Hi viz vests these days. Maybe a bit cooler. Try NZ Safety, they had some on sale last time I was in.

[Headbanger]

After all the dumb shit stunts (still) pulled on farms and building sites its a good job your all getting hit with regulations to try and curb the madness.

Lets hope it has an impact on those that are dumb enough to believe their methodology is the way its to be done simply because they have always done it that way.