Agriculture company fined $555,000 after fatal quad bike incident

The incident occurred in February 2023. The worker suffered a fatal injury when the quad bike he was using struck a mound at speed.

Wumbulgal Agriculture pleaded guilty to an offence under section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW). The company had failed to meet its health and safety duty to workers under section 19(1) of the Act.

The Court also ordered the company to organise a side-by-side vehicle training course for its workers and give SafeWork NSW evidence that they had satisfactorily completed the training.

The judgment is available on the NSW Caselaw website under SafeWork NSW v Wumbulgal Agriculture Pty Ltd. The company can appeal its sentence.

Workers can report workplace health and safety concerns anonymously to SafeWork NSW by calling 13 10 50 or using the Speak Up Save Lives website. Resources to help business owners and workers manage plant and machinery risks are also available on SafeWork NSW’s website.

SafeWork Commissioner Janet Schorer urged businesses to have safe systems of work in place to protect workers in the field. She described quad bikes and side-by-side vehicles as among the biggest risks on NSW farms, warning that unsafe use could have deadly consequences for workplaces, communities and families.

Ms Schorer said risk controls for moving plant and fixed machinery were well known. She identified understanding and assessing risks, together with implementing safe systems of work, as key to reducing incidents involving moving plant.

How Blue Safe can help: Our free WHS self-check can help you review your business’s approach to health and safety duties and identify areas that need closer attention. Take the free WHS self-check