By Gabrielle Knowles
The West Australian
State Emergency Service volunteers have been banned from
using quad bikes after an independent risk assessment declared them too
dangerous.
The Fire and Emergency Services Authority ordered the
inquiry in light of safety concerns raised by internal reviews and the deaths
of 84 people in quad bike accidents nationwide between 2000 and 2007.
Chief executive Wayne Gregson said use of the 11 all-terrain
vehicles had been temporarily suspended and other options would be considered
after the Chamber of Commerce and Industry found there was an
"unacceptable risk to the operators."
But the SES Volunteers Association says there have been no
serious injuries or deaths in the 12 years that volunteers have used the
vehicles for searches or to move equipment and supplies during floods, storms
and other emergencies.
"Our belief is that the correlation (to civilian
injuries or deaths) is not valid because they're not trained . but our volunteers
have to do a lot of training before they can ride the bikes," SESVA WA
president David Price said.
"We want a review of the risk assessment and we hope it
will be done with more of an emergency service frame of mind because everything
we do is dangerous."
Mr. Gregson said the safety of personnel and the community
was a FESA priority and it would now look for suitable replacement vehicles.
Mr. Price said one option the CCI suggested was a
side-by-side vehicle that carried two people and was like a small utility.
He said it was not as practical as a quad bike and when the
SES tested it, it could not carry the recommended load of two people, was
poorly powered and kept getting bogged.
Mr. Price said the emergency services started using quad
bikes during the Moora floods in 1999.
He said quad bikes were useful for searching big areas
quickly, including bush tracks, beach dunes and areas that bigger vehicles
could not access and could be mobilised quicker than horses and search dogs.
WA Police also have a fleet of all-terrain vehicles and
instructors. Only officers who have done the training course can ride the
bikes.
It is understood police will not stop using the bikes.
A police internal review of its training course this year
found the training, with its strong safety focus, was more than adequate.
