Board approved August 2020. Current as of 15 April 2024.
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In 2019, quad bikes were the most frequently reported cause of on-farm death. AgForce supports a range of steps encouraging the safe use of quadbikes, including mandatory user licensing and training which is consistently linked to improved safety outcomes. AgForce does not support mandatory helmets and/or Crush Protection Devices and Operator Protection Devices.
Quad Bike and Side-by-side Vehicle Safety Policy (endorsed August 2020)
1. AgForce supports competency-based, best practice safety procedures applied on-farm and adopts a position on quad-bike safety that encourages producers to actively assess risks and includes:
- Wear a helmet and appropriate personal protective equipment
- Get training
- No kids under 16 on adult-sized quad bikes
- Not overload quad bikes
- Not double passengers on quad bikes
2. AgForce supports a mandatory licensing and training system for the use of All-terrain vehicles and Side-by-Side vehicles.
3. AgForce actively encourages industry participants to understand their Workplace Health and Safety responsibilities and engage with Workplace Health and Safety training.
4. AgForce encourages the use of seatbelts when using Side-by-Side vehicles.
5. AgForce also supports a government rebate program to cover:
- Helmet purchase
- Installation and/or retrofitting of Crush Protection Devices and Operator Protection Devices
- Purchase of Side-by-Side vehicles or alternative vehicles
Issue
- Farming accounts for a small percentage of the total workforce but there a disproportionate level of workplace deaths and injuries. (WorkSafe QLD)
- In 2019, quad bikes were the most frequently reported cause of on-farm death (Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety, University of Sydney)
- Around the country, they are estimated to be responsible for an average of 16 fatalities per year and six emergency department presentations per day (ACCC)
Background & Details
Despite significant monies being invested in preventative advertising campaigns by the Queensland Government, little return is evident with statistics and anecdotal evidence showing there has been little uptake of preventative measures such as removing kids on adult-sized quad bikes and wearing of helmets, and little increase in training on the use of ATVs or SSVs. Training has been consistently linked to improved safety outcomes and for this reason, mandatory licensing and training has been supported by ATV manufacturers and recommended for adoption in Queensland by Deputy Coroner Lock in the 2015 inquest into nine quad bike-related deaths.
A new product safety standard requiring manufacturers to produce new quad bikes with Rollover Protection from October 2021 was signed off in October 2019. However, there is a breadth of individual farm situations and situation-specific risk analyses that may impact a producer’s decision to wear a helmet or to use CPD’s/OPD’s.
AgForce, therefore, does not support mandatory helmets or CPDs/OPDs. Instead, AgForce supports a mandatory licensing and training system to improve safety outcomes for producers. AgForce also supports rebate initiatives that promote changes in producer behaviour through incentives such as a rebate for:
- the purchase of an alternate vehicle such as a SSV or a small utility vehicle (SUV)
- the purchase of CPD’s/OPD’s for existing vehicles without them
- the purchase of helmets.
Such a scheme could improve safety and lower costs for producers.