{"id":38214,"date":"2013-07-08T16:53:43","date_gmt":"2013-07-08T06:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=38214"},"modified":"2020-09-04T10:33:58","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T00:33:58","slug":"28-killed-so-far-this-year-on-farms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/07\/08\/28-killed-so-far-this-year-on-farms\/","title":{"rendered":"28 Killed So Far This Year On Farms"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 8, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

The National Farmers Federation has highlighted the dangers of quad bikes – and farm safety in general – in its latest newsletter.<\/p>\n

Figures released by the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health showed 28 people had lost their lives in on-farm incidents throughout Australia in the first six months of this year, the NFF noted.<\/p>\n

A further 63 people were involved in non\u2010fatal incidents that were serious enough to make the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese figures are similar to the same time last year,\u201d Centre Director Dr Tony Lower said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the figures are only a very small part of the issue, as behind every one of these cases there is an individual, a family and a community that has to manage the unnecessary loss of a loved one or friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the deaths, quad bikes were again the leading culprit, with six on\u2010farm fatalities in the period (and a further four off\u2010farm) along with 22 reported quad injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile quad manufacturers always point to rider error to avoid any implications regarding the safety of their product, with over 60 per cent of deaths in Australia involving rollovers, the lack of a lateral stability standard and crush protection means not only do they roll all too easily, but when they do, the consequences are often fatal,” Dr Lower said.<\/p>\n

“Because of these design flaws, the margin of error for riding quads is so small that it all too often ends in tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A copy of the report is available from the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety website<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n