NewSaferFarmssafety alertshareslearnings fromtractorincident

• Published date: 24 April 2024
• Publication title: Central Rural Life

The employee at the East Coast farm had to jump out of the way as the unmanned vehicle rolled towards him

It then continued to roll through the farm for 1.2km before it was finally halted by trees.

The alert outlines how the farm staff member was feeding silage to stock and parked the tractor in a gateway, engaging it in the ‘‘park’’ gear as he went to open the gate. The park gear failed and the worker had to jump to avoid being hit as the vehicle started rolling.

Potential causes for the incident included potential wear and tear on the park gear due to operators ‘‘throwing’’ the tractor into ‘‘park’’ rather than coming to a complete stop first.

A further factor could be not using back-up methods, such as lowering the front forks/hydraulics to the ground before getting out of the cab.

While emergency brakes can also be engaged in conjunction with the transmission park gate, this can cause issues as operators can drive off with the brake on and strain the brake function.

It is recommended that operators should only engage ‘‘park’’ once the tractor has fully stopped.

The park lock and park brake should both be applied when parked or operating from a static position.

Operators should also double check for movement or instability — even when the park gear/brake is engaged — before leaving the cab. A back-up method should always be used, even if the ground seems relatively flat.

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