Tasmania's largest dairy company, the Van Diemen's Land Company (VDL), has invested more than $45,000 installing rollover protection devices on 50 quad bikes across its properties.
Quad bikes are still the biggest risk to farmers on their properties, with two thirds of on-farm deaths attributed to incidents with quad bikes and All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), normally due to the vehicle rolling over and crushing the driver.
According to Quad Watch, an initiative of Safe Work Australia, there were 22 fatalities nationally in 2015— three of which occurred in Tasmania.
On March 1, the Hobart Magistrates Court launched a Coronial Inquest into the deaths of riders of quad bikes between Nov. 10, 2012 and Dec. 27, 2015 in Tasmania. There is no requirement for rollover protection devices in Tasmania, nor is there a financial incentive (such as a rebate) offered for installing rollover protection devices.
VDL Makes Protection Devices Mandatory On Its Farms
Van Diemen's Land Company CEO David Beca said though there had not been any serious injuries due to quad bikes, the company has chosen to install the devices on every quad bike run by VDL. "The reality is these vehicles can be rolled. We became convinced we needed some additional protection."
Van Diemen's Land Company undertook its own trials of different types of protection devices to see which would be most suited to use on the dairies and for the dairy support vehicles. "We certainly got some fitted and ran those vehicles for some time. We did not then actively try to roll the vehicles at any stage to see what the result would be, but we could push the vehicles over and see what happened when that was the case. It was also a matter of relying on some of the other trials and research that had been done," said Beca.
Confusion About Safety Research
There have been mixed messages about the effectiveness of rollover protection devices and there are calls across Australia for more research into the efficacy of safety devices. Manager of Work Health and Safety for Van Diemen's Land Company, Nathan Cox, said he had no doubt the safety devices were important to install.
"With the work that's been done nationally, the evidence is quite clear that these devices do provide benefits. They are an important part of managing the risk of quad bikes," said Cox.
Little Inconvenience Caused By Lifesaver
Dairy farm managers Tameka and Johnny Gardner run a property owned by Van Diemen's Land Company and have had their two quad bikes fitted with rollover protection devices at the expense of the company.
Tameka Gardner said the installation process was quick and easy. "It was done by a local motorbike shop that services our vehicles that we purchase from anyway, so we popped down and installed them on the bikes. It took all of 10 minutes. I don't mind them. They aren't an interference on the bikes," Gardner said.
She said safety was a high priority for them on the farm, with other measures like quad bike safety training, seatbelts and the wearing of helmets already compulsory on their property. "Safety is high on the list of priorities. It's a must. We strongly enforce that on the farm as well and because of that we have never seen anyone on the farm who is not wearing a helmet or doing the right thing."
A coroner investigating a string of fatal quad bike accidents in New South Wales over the past decade has made several recommendations to improve safety and reduce the number of deaths, including mandating the use of helmets and seatbelts. Rollover protection devices were not included as a recommendation.
Quad Bikes Invaluable On Farms
Despite topping the list of biggest dangers to farmers, both David Beca and the Gardners said quad bikes were indispensable on farms. Tameka Gardner said quad bikes were the most versatile vehicle in difficult terrain.
"During the winter you can't get the buggy into most paddocks. You wouldn't even attempt it. We need the bikes. There was talk about removing the bikes off farms but you can't do it. [When] rounding up cattle, it is hard if you need to cut one cow out of a herd of 900 because you can't do that with a [side-by-side vehicle] without bringing them to the dairy, for instance. But on a bike, it can be done quite easily under the right control," Gardner said.
Beca said quad bikes would never be removed entirely from their dairies. "We have looked at removing them and have trialed removing them entirely from one farm and replacing them with the closest thing, side-by-side vehicles. We have found that in certain areas we lose a significant amount of usability when that's the case," Beca said.
While the quad bikes are referred to as all-terrain vehicles, Safe Work Australia said the vehicles were unsuitable on some terrain. "Quad bikes can be unstable on anything other than flat terrain, but they are sometimes seen as being an ideal machine for all-terrain agricultural activities. Loss of control of a quad bike often results in a rollover. Rollover events are the single largest cause of quad bike fatalities," said a Safe Work Australia spokesperson.
