FARMSAFE Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that assists in the co-ordination of initiatives specifically focused on raising awareness of (and helping to address) safety issues specific to our farms.

One of Farmsafe’s annual initiatives is National Farm Safety Week. It provides a platform to raise awareness of farm specific safety issues with a national focus. This year National Farm Safety Week runs from July 21-26, 2019.

Given the importance of this topic, I thought I would get a head start and dedicate the remainder of my articles for July 2019 to farm safety.

Earlier this year. I wrote about quad bike safety, which is a very relevant topic for farms.

This remains a very topical issue nationwide and since my article the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Quad Bikes Taskforce has made recommendations for a mandatory safety standard specifically addressing quad bike safety.

A draft standard has been prepared and submissions were invited on its content up until June 10 this year.

I have looked at the draft standard. It is not too lengthy at 23 pages and it appears clear to me that addressing risk of rollover was a particular focus.

I am not surprised by this given 64 per cent of quad bike fatalities in 2018 related to rollovers. You can keep informed by checking out the quad bike safety investigations information on the ACCC’s Product Safety website www.productsafety.gov.au.

Until next week – stay safe and Keep it Legal!

Katie Caldow
kcaldow@walkerpender.com.au

*The legal information in this article is of a general nature only and not intended to be legal advice to rely upon.