WorkSafe NZ and farm staff inspect the scene of a fatal quad bike accident in rural Welcome Bay. Photo/George Novak
WorkSafe NZ and farm staff inspect the scene of a fatal quad bike accident in rural Welcome Bay. Photo/George Novak
A neighbour of a Welcome Bay farm worker killed in a quad bike accident is devastated she was not home to help him as he lay trapped for hours.
The 66-year-old man's body was found about 6pm on Tuesday night after the farm's owner returned to his Waitaha South Rdproperty to find the worker missing. The victim's name had not been released at press time.
Neighbour Jodi Vale told the Bay of Plenty Times she noticed the drama unfolding just beyond her back fence about 6.30pm on Tuesday night.
"I was out all day which normally I'm not, which makes me really sad because should I have been home I would have seen him or even been able to report something sooner and to get him help," she said.
"I often see him out working or spraying at my fence line and my heart really breaks for his family."
Farm owner Tom Cleland said he was struggling to cope with the death and paid tribute to his friend when contacted by the Bay of Plenty Times yesterday.
"He was such a great friend as well as the best worker you could wish to have."
St John Ambulance acting territory manager Gary Bishell said the farm's owners returned to find the worker had been missing since the morning.
"It was a quad bike which had rolled on a slope and he was trapped," Mr Bishell said. "He'd been dead for quite a few hours."
Another neighbour, who lived on Waitaha South Rd, said he often exchanged pleasantries with the worker.
"He was a very nice person. He'd been here for about three years," he said.
A Worksafe NZ investigator was yesterday examining the scene of the accident.
A WorkSafe NZ spokesman said one person was killed in a quad bike crash while working on a farm in New Zealand last year but there had been no confirmed cases this year until now. There were four work-related quad bike fatalities and 67 serious harm notifications in 2012. Tuesday's death was the first fatality involving a quad bike in the Bay since 20008.
