Correlaciones

Tractor rollovers and tractor runovers have been major causes of farm deaths and injuries. In all of Australia except Queensland, it is illegal to sell new or second-hand tractors without rollover protection structures (ROPS). These structures are the most effective way of providing protection if a tractor rolls over. The rollover protection structures became mandatory in 1998 in Victoria regardless of when tractors were purchased. In Victoria there have been two-rebate subsidy schemes.

The first subsidy scheme was from 1 December 1993 to 31 May 1994 providing $120 rebate. At that time the law did not require you to fit a ROPS to tractors manufactured prior to 1981,

however regulations were prepared to provide that where an employee drives a tractor, then a ROPS frame would be required. The rebate was not available for machines manufactured after 1981, as the law required that all tractors manufactured after 1981 were required to have a ROPS frame or similar strength cabin installed at the time of manufacture.

The second rebate scheme was in 1997/98 and is an important example of a successful prevention program for WorkCover. The rebate was $150 and more than 12,000 structures were fitted to tractors.

The program has become an important example of industry development funding and with analysis and understanding of the key elements that made the prevention program work it is expected to use this as a guide for future programs. In summary the scheme operates as follows: Scheme structure:

• Funded by WorkCover

• Administered by Victorian Farmers Federation Key elements of the scheme:

• Regulatory amendments • Publicity

• Education

• Financial incentive $150 rebate Impact:

• 70% reduction in unprotected tractors (from 12,000 to 5000) between 1996 and 1998 • Estimated to prevent 2 deaths a year for the next 10 years.

What has been learnt from ROPS?

• The imperative for stakeholder ownership of prevention initiatives;

• The power of incentives, in this case a direct financial incentive, to motivate behaviour; • The force of regulation;

• The influence of publicity and public education campaigns.

As a result of the success of the scheme in Victoria, NSW began a similar scheme in May 2000 providing a $200 rebate up until December 30. It had been compulsory since 1982 to have ROPS fitted to tractors between 560kg and 15,000kg. The scheme had a similar group of players as Victoria, including NSW WorkCover, Farmsafe NSW, NSW Farmers, Unions NSW and the scheme was administered by the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety.

Tractor runovers:

Runovers account for the second highest fatalities associated with tractors. The Australian Agricultural Health Unit indicates approximately 35% of deaths where related to tractor runovers between 1985-90 in NSW and QLD. This figure is replicated in the Victorian statistics.

(Monash University Accident Research Centre, Farm Injury Regular Surveillance Tools (FIRST) Annual Report 1999 (Vol. 2), No. 1. March 2000)

In response to these findings the Australian Agricultural Health Unit contracted Geoff McDonald and his associates at the University of Queensland to design and construct a tractor safe access platform.

The Australian Agricultural Health Unit provides a simple hand out showing construction of a safe tractor access platform.

Victorian WorkCover is providing a rebate as an incentive to construct a safe tractor access platform to existing tractors within a research project at the present time.

The Monash University Accident Research centre is presently undertaking some important work in this area.

Evaluation of safe tractor access platforms:

Run-overs are the second leading cause of tractor deaths in agriculture and will become increasingly prominent, as tractor rollovers are addressed. The Safe Tractor Access Platform guidance note, produced by the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety, has been used in Victoria by two farm safety action groups (FSAG) to fit some 18 tractors with the platforms. This project will examine the implementation of this

preventive strategy. Semi-structured interviews will be held with farmers who have fitted platforms. Farmers will be asked to comment on tractor operations before and after fitting the platform, and the average cost per fitting the platform to the tractor will be determined. This information will be complemented by engineering inspections of the fitted tractors, and comparison with access points of a sample of new tractors. The inspections will be based on the features included in the guidance note. The benefits and hindrances of platform fitting will be identified, and features of the fitted platforms will be compared with those of the access points on new tractors. Main outcomes will be: 1) A short report for dissemination to other farm safety action groups to encourage further uptake; 2) Marketing information, such as benefits identified by farmers and cost to farmers, for use in further promotion; 3) Early identification and therefore potential remediation of any serious hindrances.

(Sponsor: Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation)

Project Contact: Lesley Day

March 26 2003

A girl, aged 4 was killed when her toddler brother accelerated a quad bike through fences in northern NSW at the weekend.

Police said the girl was sitting on the idling, four-wheel bike when her two-year-old brother activated the accelerator.

The bike careered through two wire fences, police said. The girl suffered internal injuries.

The children and their parents were holidaying on the property near Walcha where the accident occurred. Their parent’s, who had just got off the bike, were unable to revive their daughter.

(The Weekly Times March 26, 2003) ( p.23)