Side by side rollover

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What happened

A farm worker was driving a side-by-side on farm when they had a momentary lapse in concentration and the side-by-side rolled over.

The vehicle was fitted with safety nets, and the worker was wearing a helmet and seatbelt. Additionally, because they had a GPS alert system in place, their team got to them in 22 minutes and they received care very quickly.

They experienced a cut and bruising on the face, bruising from their seat belt, and had to take a week off work, but with the PPE in place, they avoided serious injury.

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Why did it happen

As the worker travelled to the downhill section of the road, they lost concentration and drove too far to the left-hand side of the road.

Speed potentially increased the harm. While the worker was only going 14km/hr over the farm speed of 30 km, had the worker been going the speed limit, the impact of the rollover may have been reduced even further.

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Key lessons

• Make sure you are up to the job when you head out on farm. Fatigue and distraction affects focus. Stop, think, and do the task safely.
• In this incident having GPS tracking on the vehicle meant help got to them quickly. Consider investing in technology like this for yourself and your workers. It could literally be a life saver.
• Other PPE (fitted and used) meant that the farm worker in this incident avoided serious injury – including safety nets in place, helmet and crash rollover technology. Make sure you and your team have the right PPE for the job.