Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment inspectors are stepping up farm visits to check on quad bike safety.
"Farms continue to have one of the highest levels of injury of any workplace in New Zealand. Quad bikes are a major factor in this, but one that is easily preventable if these machines are respected and used correctly," said MBIE national programmes support and design manager Francois Barton said.
"Every year, 850 people are injured on farms riding quad bikes and five die. For many of those injured it was over a week before they could resume normal farming duties. If you can't work, you can't farm. Farms are workplaces and farmers have a responsibility to ensure the health and safety of themselves and their staff.
The ministry had been running a quad bike safety programme for the past two and a half years, and as spring approached, it would be stepping up its visits to farms to ensure the machines were being operated safely.
The ministry's quad bike harm reduction campaign seeks to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities through improving quad bike safety on all farms.
