05:34 am, Sunday 28 December, 2008

QUEENSLAND Premier Anna Bligh says her Government will heed any lessons learned from investigations into the death of a young boy on a farm west of Brisbane.

A four year old boy has died after falling from a tractor that was being used to slash grass on a property in Gatton.

The farm is non commerical, so it is not considered to be a workplace accident, however it highlights the need for appropiate Safety Procedures for Tractor Slashing to be used.

The accident occurred on the family farm at about 5.30pm (AEST) and the boy died at the scene.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said,

“It’s a terrible, tragic loss, and if we can learn anything from this young child’s death then certainly we’ll be doing that,” Ms Bligh said.

The Department of Employment and Industrial Relations website advises that: “Generally, passengers SHOULD NOT (sic) be allowed to ride on tractors.”

The department advises that passengers should be carried only for instruction and training, or in situations of extreme emergency.

This is the second fatality to occur on a Queensland farm in less than a week. Last Monday, Cattle Farmer Matthew Kersh, 42 was killed when attempting to remove his childrens kite from powerlines on a neighbouring property.

It is believed the whilst Mr Kersh wasn’t working around the electricity at the time, he did use a pole to reach the kite, and the electricy jumped approximatley one metre to make contact with the pole.

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