Tractor Accidents

The Department's accident files contain many photos of farm tractor accidents like the ones below - and behind every fading picture is a human tragedy.

A mother was fatally injured and her three young children drowned when their tractor went off the road and into a ditch (black and white photo below). A farmer died when the 500 kg hay bale he was lifting rolled back off the tractor forks and crushed him. Another farmer - seen pinned beneath his overturned tractor below survived, against all the odds. Overalls wrapped around around an unguarded tractor take-off shaft tell a familiar story to the Department of Labour inspector. A farmer's sleeve was caught in the moving part and he was pulled onto the shaft and dismembered.

The accidents continue. We repeat here the advice that inspectors have been giving for decades. Don't allow children to ride on tractors. Take care when using tractors on slopes, especially when towing attachments. Use specially designed forks or clamps when lifting hay bales. Fit guards to cover the moving parts on tractor power take-off shafts.

Information is available from Department of Labour offices and elsewhere on this website.

	Four people died in this accident - a mother and her three children.
	A man can just be made out under this tractor - he survived which is very unusual.