Firm fined $78,000 after beekeeper killed on quad bike

A Bay of Plenty honey company which sent a novice worker on a quad bike without a helmet has been fined $78,000 after the man's death.

The man's family will get $60,000 of the fine.

The 21-year-old Wellington man died in hospital after being flown from the road where he overturned the quad bike on August 19, 2008.

He had not previously ridden an all-terrain vehicle (ATV).

The company prosecuted, PA and SC Steens Ltd, had sent a group of workers out to hives on a farm at Riversdale in Wairarapa.

The beekeeper was given a basic demonstration on how to use an ATV before going to the farm, according to the Department of Labour, which prosecuted the honey maker.

The farm owner gave him a further demonstration on the farm quad bike that he was to ride.

The bike was later found overturned near the entrance to the farm driveway and the man, who had no helmet, was taken by helicopter to Wellington Hospital, where he died from head injuries.

The company admitted a charge under occupational safety and health laws of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of an employee.

The department said farmers and other employers who required employees to use ATVs were legally required to ensure that the workers were well trained in their use.

The department's regional workplace manager, Brett Murray, said rider inexperience, and the failure to wear an approved helmet, had killed a number of riders.

"This case is especially bad - the beekeeper had no experience whatsoever," he said.

"The lesson from this case is that farmers and other employers who use ATVs must ensure that their employees wear an approved ATV helmet and are properly trained."

Calls seeking comment from the company's managing director, Paul Steens of Te Puke, were not returned.

The fatality was one of six ATV deaths in the year to June 2009.

So far this year there have been four ATV accident deaths.

- NZPA