Interesting reading this week, about anyone who employs people, especially in the Rural industry, of a case in regards to an OH&S issue that has gone to the High Court, with a positive outcome for the employer expected before Xmas.
This particular case involves a farm manager who, when riding a quad bike, avoided going down a perfectly good road, and instead went over a steep incline whilst dragging pipes behind him. Unfortunately this person was killed and the full weight of the OH&S laws were applied to the owner who was nowhere near the incident. This particular case has been going for eight years and has cost the employer in excess of a million dollars to defend.
The employee had exceeded the capabilities of the machine and had had prior training when they had taken delivery of the quad. The case has now been argued to the High Court whereby the presumption of guilt by the employer has been questioned, with him also receiving a criminal record.
These draconian laws in cases like this now look to be considered along the lines of the “Reasonable Forseeability Test”, which basically means that these actions cannot be predicted in any shape or form by the employer. We all know that in agriculture especially, it is a dangerous workplace, but, there are some things that we cannot predict (ask one who knows!!!!).
This is now becoming a major factor in whether we employ people without the already acquired skills which means, how do the young fellas get a go…….

Tags: agricultural sector, gloucester community, rural industry, young farmers