New Tech Boosts Quad Bike Safety

Inbuilt speed limiters, GPS units on quad bikes, crush protection devices and a focused vehicle training programme are among measures Dairy Holdings has in place to safeguard its farmworkers.

Dairy Holdings farm supervisor Adam Mielnik says the engineering controls, across 14 South Island grazing/young stock blocks, took a little bit of getting used to for staff but everyone came round to it. “There was a lot of ‘we won’t be able to chase animals on the bikes now’. But we don’t want them chasing stock on the bikes. That’s high risk when a mob breaks away and people go tearing after them. “It’s meant thinking differently about how you are going to do it, going wider or putting a guide fence in but it isn’t a problem. We’ve found dealing with livestock is perfectly manageable at 30km/hour.” 

Dairy Holdings is supporting the Farm Without Harm vehicle safety campaign led by Safer Farms, the organisation dedicated to leading, redesigning and inspiring a safer farm culture throughout New Zealand. The decision to fit controls was made in 2019 after the company’s reporting system highlighted a series of minor incidents involving quad bikes. However, while the process was underway, a vehicle was involved in a rollover, resulting in a fatality. “The impact of something like that is just horrible,” says Mielnik. “No one ever wants to be in the position, from losing a colleague and having to call their family to tell them their loved one isn’t coming home. “The accident hit me really hard. I had ordered the roll bar for that quad bike just a few days before. 

A lot of people think it won’t happen to them but it happened to us. That is why, as farmers, we need to be front footing things, rather than reacting once something has happened.” Due to the intensive nature of its blocks, the company has continued using quads to utilise techno-fencing equipment on farm. Initially, they had CPDs and individual speed limiting technology fitted to a range of different bikes. They have since gone over to Can-Am ATVs on all the grazing blocks. These have inbuilt speed limiters which they programme to a maximum of 30kmh. The approach is all about being proactive, not reactive. “We have a three-tiered specific vehicle training programme for our team, on-farm quad safety procedures, our servicing programme and we continue to have our reporting system.

“We have also done a lot of work around how we can work safely to minimise the risk, and ensure the right person is using the right vehicle for the right job Our grazing block quads are also fitted with GPS units that not only monitor driver behaviour, but also alert us to a potential roll event and allow the team to call for help if needed, even from the most remote parts of the South Island.” None of the Dairy Holdings farms have experienced a full quad bike roll over since CPDs were fitted. “And we never want to have one,” says Mielnik. “We have had three near misses where bikes rolled on their sides. I think the CPD and speed limiting helped us to fail safely in those situations.”