MP’s farm business fined over veteran employee’s death

A farming business partly owned by a politician has been fined over the death of a “much loved” employee and friend who worked there for 33 years.

Independent MP Helen Dalton represents the NSW seat of Murray and co-owns farming business Wumbulgal Agriculture.

The crop and livestock farm was fined $550,000 for failing to comply with safety laws when one of its eight employees died on Feb. 4, 2023.

The day before, the 82-year-old man was working on the farm in Yenda, NSW, and was riding a quad bike to round up 800 sheep.

He was not wearing a helmet when he hit a bump and was thrown from the vehicle. He suffered blunt head trauma from impaction, bleeding, brain swelling, and compression of brain tissue.

Wumbulgal Agriculture pleaded guilty after SafeWork NSW took action over its failure to ensure worker safety.

By law, the business must require the employee to wear a helmet and the bike must be fitted with a roll cage.

But in the NSW Industrial Tribunal on Thursday, Judge Ingmar Taylor said for the past 20 years he had allowed the farm to decide whether it was necessary for its workers to wear helmets.

“The failure that day occurred against the background of a long-standing system of work,” Judge Taylor said.

“Tragically, this failure resulted in the death of a much-loved employee.”

Judge Taylor accepted that the worker was known to rarely wear a helmet.

However, the bike involved in the accident had a sticker warning of the risk of death from improper use, and mandatory riders always use helmets.

There have been 280 quad bike-related deaths across Australia since 2001.

“Quads and side-by-sides are one of the biggest risks on NSW farms,” ​​SafeWork commissioner Janet Schorer said.

“Using them unsafely can lead to fatal consequences that impact entire workplaces, communities and families.”

Ms Dalton and her family have been contacted for comment.