Study Teams For Tractor Accidents

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30793, 3 July 1965, Page 10

Study Teams For Tractor Accidents

The establishment of a series of tractor accident investigation teams throughout the country is planned by the Agricultural Engineering Institute at Lincoln. The director of the institute, Professor J. R. Burton, said this week that the institute was concerned about the collection of data on tractor accidents, which could be of use in its research programme. While the Department of Agriculture, and in particular

Mr C. J. Crosbie, farm advisory officer (machinery) in Christchurch, had done a good deal in investigating accidents on the basis of coroners’ reports, Professor Burton said that these reports were not sufficiently technical for their purposes and it was desirable that persons with some engineering knowledge should visit sites of accidents and prepare reports.

It was therefore proposed to set up seven or eight accident investigation teams throughout the country based on Department of Agriculture districts. A pilot team was to

be established initially at Hamilton with the district executive officer of the department being the liaison officer between the Police and the institute, and in the team would be the local machinery instructor of the department, the district safety officer of the National Safety Association and possibly another person with suitable qualifications. Procedure The idea was that when an accident occurred the police would notify the district executive officer of the Department of Agriculture who would contact the team members and at least one of these would go to the site to investigate the accident and report to the institute.

It was hoped to bring these investigators to Lincoln for a course so that they could be instructed on what to look for. It was proposed that reports would be submitted on a standard form, but at present they were not certain as to exactly what form the report should take and one of the purposes of the pilot investigation team in Hamilton would be to clarify this. Professor Burton said that they were not only interested in fatal accidents. They also wanted to know how a man escaped from a tractor that had over-turned, and in order to be a'ble to locate non-fatal accidents they were asking Federated Farmers to assist by letting the investigation team know of such accidents.