The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has said it would like to see a “greater uptake” of mandatory training required for the use of quad bikes in workplaces.
Gerard Hartnett, the HSA’s senior inspector for farm safety, said if such training and the use of helmets were “properly addressed”, there would likely be a reduction in quad bike fatalities, of which there were 10 in the decade to 2024.
Since November 2023, it is mandatory for training to be undertaken for the use of quad bikes, or all-terrain vehicles (ATV), in all workplaces with a registered provider, as well as the use of helmets.
“If those two items were properly addressed and complied with, I would hope you would see a reduction [in fatalities], because the training teaches the rider how to use the equipment safely, and the safety helmet is an external, additional protection factor as well,” Mr Hartnett said.
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He believes there are “a lot of people” with quad bikes who have not done the training and are not wearing a helmet, which is an “issue”.
“It is really about the farmers themselves taking ownership of the use of the quad, maintenance of the quad and training and not carrying passengers or excessive loads, those kind of basic things,” he said.
“It goes back to the sole trader who is the farmer, in terms of making sure it’s used for the purposes it’s designed for,” he said, adding that there are issues around younger and older people using the vehicles. Older people “may not have the physical dexterity around the farm anymore” and may be using the quadbike “almost as a mobility aid”, he said.
Mr Hartnett was speaking generally about quad bike safety.
There have been 171 farm fatalities over the last decade, with 69 of those relating to vehicles, according to the HSA. Ten of the deaths involved quad bikes over the period from 2015 to 2024.
On Sunday Padraig (Paudie) O’Reilly of Bawn, Killeshandra, Co Cavan was fatally injured in an incident that is understood to have involved a quad bike.
Mr O’Reilly ran an agricultural services business in the area, while the HSA was notified about his death.
Emergency services and gardaí attended the incident at a premises in Killeshandra. Mr O’Reilly, aged in his 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was removed to Cavan General Hospital and a postmortem examination will be carried out.
No further details about the fatal incident are known.
