Worker dies after quad bike rolls

BRADLEY AMBROSE

Police and Department of Labour staff examine the scene where a teenage female farm worker died after a quad bike flipped on top of her.

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Farm manager Wayne Kennard knew something was wrong when he saw the milking shed empty at 8am yesterday.

His worst fears were realised when he went searching for his 19-year-old relief milker - and found her dead under her upturned quad bike on the farm near Midhirst.

"Just like any other person, I started to question what had happened," Mr Kennard said.

"The first thing that you do is go and have a look for them."

The bike was halfway up a small hill and appeared to have flipped on the uneven surface.

Mr Kennard rolled the bike off the woman and attempted to revive her but was unsuccessful.

"It was a freak accident and you can't turn back time to fix it," he said.

"You don't expect that to happen to anyone, let alone to someone who works for you."

The woman whose name has not been released had worked for Mr Kennard as a relief milker for the past six months.

"She was a happy-go-lucky kind of girl who got on with everyone," he said.

Mr Kennard has managed the Beconsfield Rd farm for Paul and Jayne Schumacher for almost two years.

Senior Sergeant Shaun Keenan said it was too soon to say whether if wearing a helmet could have saved her life.

He said police were trying to contact the  dead girl's  grandparents, who are believed to be travelling around the North Island.
  
   Taranaki Federated Farmers president Peter Adamski said the organisation was trying to get through to farmers the dangers of ATVs.

"We do our best to inform them,'' Mr Adamski said.

However, the message was not sinking in and Mr Adamski  believed the Department Labour needed to get tougher.

Any death on a farm was unacceptable and farmers and their employees needed to take responsibility for safety, he said.

"Farmers need to make sure jlthat their staff are trained and the equipment is in working order and the staff need to make sure that it is used for the purpose it is intended,'' Mr Adamski said.

The Department of Labour is also investigating.

- © Fairfax NZ News