Bee company stung for $78,000 after ATV death

A honey company which sent a novice worker on a quad bike without a helmet has been fined $78,000, in a sequel to the man's death.

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

The 21-year-old Wellington man died in Wellington 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).

PA and SC Steens Ltd had sent a group of workers out to hives on a farm at Riversdale, 54km to the east.

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

The farm owner gave him a further demonstration on the farm quad bike that he was to be riding. The bike was later found overturned on the road near the entrance to the farm driveway, and the beekeeper, who had been riding without a helmet, was taken to hospital by helicopter, where he died from the head injuries.

The company admitted a charge under occupational health and safety 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 employees 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 honey company's managing director, Paul Steens of Te Puke, were not returned.

The accident was one of six ATV deaths in year to June 2009, after four the previous year and six in 2007. So far this year there have been four ATV accident deaths, and Mr Murray said it showed the need to treat the vehicles with the greatest respect.

Some deaths have involved tourists or recreation riders, but there had also been a cluster of deaths in recent years on farms and orchards in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

Riders have also been warned to avoid steep terrain and carrying passengers and heavy loads.