Wumbulgal Agriculture Pty Ltd has been convicted and fined $555,000 in the Industrial Court of NSW following a prosecution by SafeWork NSW over the death of a worker in a quad bike incident.

The proceedings arose from an incident in February 2023, in which a worker died after the quad bike he was riding struck a mound at speed. Wumbulgal Agriculture pleaded guilty to an offence under section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), for failing to comply with its duty to workers under section 19(1) of the Act.

In addition to the fine, the Court ordered the company to arrange for its workers to complete a side-by-side vehicle training course and to provide SafeWork NSW with evidence of satisfactory completion.

SafeWork Commissioner Janet Schorer said quad bikes and side-by-side vehicles remain one of the biggest risks on NSW farms.

“Using them unsafely could have deadly consequences that impact entire workplaces, communities and families,” Ms Schorer said. “Having an awareness and assessment of the risks, along with implementation of safe systems of work, is key to reducing the number of incidents related to moving plant.”

Wumbulgal Agriculture retains the right to appeal against its sentence. The full judgment is published on the NSW Caselaw website.

Source: SafeWork NSW media release