Farmer fined after employee killed when ATV overturned

Mark Mansfield

A farmer has been fined £5,500 after an employee was killed when an all-terrain vehicle overturned on a hillside.

Colin Williams, 58, suffered fatal crush injuries after being thrown from the ATV at Wyesham, Monmouthshire, on August 25, 2022.

The vehicle, which did not have doors, was being driven downhill when the driver lost control and it overturned.

Mr Williams died at the scene.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found neither Mr Williams nor the driver had received adequate training to use the vehicle safely and neither was wearing a seatbelt.

Investigators also found no routine pre-use checks were being carried out on vehicles owned by farmer Allen Roberts and used at Hill Farm.

The ATV’s tyres were improperly inflated, with different pressures in each tyre, which the HSE said should have been rectified before it was used.

It was also being driven in high gear and two-wheel drive when it should have been in low gear and four-wheel drive.

The HSE said the keys to the ATV were not adequately controlled and could be accessed by anyone on the farm, including people who had not received adequate training.

Mr Williams was the only employee at Hill Farm and had been clearing vegetation and trees from a farm access route with the assistance of the ATV’s driver.

HSE guidance requires employers to provide workers using ATVs with adequate training and instruction on their safe use.

The investigation concluded operators should have been trained to use the vehicle on the type of terrain found at the farm and instructed to wear seatbelts where there was a foreseeable risk of overturning.

A system of pre-use inspections should also have been in place to identify defects before vehicles were used.

Roberts, of Hill Farm, Monmouth, pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

He was fined £5,500 and ordered to pay £5,813 in costs at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court on September 2.

‘Lack of training’

HSE principal inspector Damian Corbett said: “Anyone operating these machines should have the right training and be wearing seat belts when travelling.

“This accident was a tragic consequence of a lack of training, and a lack of basic safety precautions which cost a family a husband and a father.

“Employers must ensure that those entrusted to operate vehicles are properly trained and instructed to wear seat belts or safety equipment where there is a risk.”

---

Get more trusted Welsh news

Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.