Powerlines Inside the tractor Noise protection Chemicals and pesticides Skin cancer Foreword Minister for Labour Relations Tractors, the most useful of farm machines, are also the most dangerous when not handled correctly and carefully. In Australia, more people are killed or injured in tractor accidents than with any other piece of rural machinery. Tractors account for nearly nine out of every 10 accidental farm deaths. One in every four people killed on tractors is under the age of 16.
Research shows that many farmers are over-familiar with tractors and tend to ignore the dangers.
These are the kinds of risky work practices that have to change, if we are to stop the toll of deaths and injuries caused by tractors. I hope as many farmers as possible will read this booklet, and put the safe work practices in these pages into practice. The most serious accidents generally occur when a tractor rolls sideways or back-flips, crushing the operator beneath it, or against a tree or farm structure. In all of these accidents, a ROPS or cab, combined with a seat-belt and a seat with a back support, would have protected the operator from serious injury. One in every five tractor deaths in Australia has occurred by the operator falling or climbing off a moving tractor, and being run over by the tractor or by towed machinery.