Call for study participation on quad bike safety

University of NSW scientists are calling on farmers and other workers who ride quad bikes when on the job to participate in a new online survey to aid research into workplace quad bike safety.

UNSW said it is hoping to get as many people as possible to complete the survey study, which should only take around 25 minutes to complete.

According to the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety, over 220 people have been killed in quad bike accidents in Australia since 2001. It is also the leading cause of death on Australian farms.

UNSW researchers say it is because of these high statistics that research is needed in this area.

“The tragic tide of death and serious injury affecting Australian farmers and other workers who use quad bikes needs to be stemmed,” said the project leader, UNSW Professor Raphael Grzebieta.

“We know farmers are mainly being killed by rollover crashes. A lot of them die simply because the weight of the quad bike stops them from being able to breathe, which must be a terrible way to go.

“We need to understand how quad bike rollovers and other crashes occur, what injuries people sustain and how some people manage to escape injury in those crashes. The people who ride quad bikes for work are the only ones who can tell us what is happening out there in the real world.”

The independent Quad Bike Workplace Safety Survey will be carried out by the Transport and Road Safety Research Centre at UNSW following a recommendation from a 2015 coronial inquiry that looked into quad bike rider deaths in NSW.

The coroner reportedly recommended an independent “real life” study be conducted to assess the benefits, risks and general efficacy of operator protection devices, which are designed to be fitted onto quad bikes to improve safety. Their effectiveness will be under question.

“Outcomes from this new UNSW study will answer some very important research questions about quad bike safety that can only be answered through a comprehensive survey of workplace quad bike users. While our research indicates overall benefits of such operator protection devices, the best measure of their safety performance will come from this real-world data,” said Professor Grzebieta.

The Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Victor Dominello also recently announced a $2 million package to reduce quad bike-related accidents on farms, which will include rebates up to $500 to buy compliant helmets, protection devices or attend training.

To complete the online survey, click here.

Image courtesy of Chris_Parfitt under CC-BY-2.0