A farming business part-owned by a politician has been fined over the death of a "much-loved" employee and friend who worked there for 33 years.
Independent MP Helen Dalton represents the NSW seat of Murray and co-owns the farming business Wumbulgal Agriculture.
The crop and livestock farm has been fined $550,000 for failing to follow safety laws when one of its eight employees died on February 4, 2023.
A day earlier, the 82-year-old man was working the farm in Yenda, in the Riverina of NSW, and riding a quad bike at speed to muster 800 sheep.
He wasn't wearing a helmet when he hit a mound and was thrown off the vehicle. He sustained blunt force head trauma on impact, bleeding, cerebral swelling and compression of the brain tissue.
Wumbulgal Agriculture pleaded guilty after SafeWork NSW pursued action for its failing to ensure the worker's safety.
By law, the business should have required the worker to wear a helmet and a roll cage should have been installed on the bike.
However, for the past 20 years the farm had allowed employees to decide whether it was necessary to wear a helmet, Justice Ingmar Taylor found in the Industrial Court of NSW.
"The failure on the day occurred against the background of a system of work that had continued for many years," Judge Taylor said.
"Tragically, that failure resulted in the death of a much-loved employee."
Judge Taylor accepted the worker was known to rarely wear a helmet.
However, the bike involved in the accident had a sticker that warned of the risk of death arising from improper use and mandated riders always use a helmet.
Since 2001 there have been 280 quad bike-related deaths across Australia.
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