Moree farmers have opportunity to participate in quad bike safety course

Tocal College and Safe Work NSW have teamed up to bring the training course to Moree on Thursday, April 6 at a heavily subsidised rate, part of the NSW government’s Quad Bike Safety Improvement Program, which was recently doubled.

The one-day course costs just $100 per eligible person, reduced from $410, and will be tailored to the experience level of attendees.

The government sees rider-training courses as an important safety measure in reducing this farm hazard, with quad bikes the leading cause of accidental death and injury across rural Australia.

Between 2011 and 2016, quad bikes accounted for 109 deaths in NSW.

Four people have died from four-wheeler accidents this year alone, three of which occurred within a week of one another earlier this month. One of these fatalities was a six-year-old girl from Narrabri.

Steven Honeywood, the trainer from Tocal College, said that as well as operating quad bikes safely, the course will also cover important WHS issues, active riding techniques and training on how to load and secure quads onto trailers and trucks to ensure participants are appropriately trained in all safety areas of riding a quad bike.

Farmers are responsible for ensuring their workers have adequate training and the skills to safely use quad bikes in the workplace.

“The course allows employees to show a duty of care and due diligence for their employees,” Mr Honeywood said.

“Quad bikes are a major risk on farms and people working on them need to be trained properly and safely on quad bike use.”

The accredited course will see participants awarded with a unit of competency which demonstrates that they know how to operate a quad bike safely.

The course is an approved event and enables participants to get funding from SafeWork NSW for safer operation of quad bikes.

Farmers interested can register at www.tocal.nsw.edu.au/courses/nsw-quad-bike-safety-improvement-program.