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How safe is an ATV?

That’s one question that has prompted a Texas OSHA Alert. With more and more ATVs being used for industry purposes rather than recreation, it is a question that needs addressing. Employers need to accept that if they do not provide adequate training on the use of ATVs, and do not have safety precautions in place, then serious injuries, or deaths can occur.

Even when used recreationally, the accident statistics do not make for good reading. According to a recent consumer Product Safety Commission report, fatalities relating to ATV accidents are rising. In 1982 the number was 29. By 2004, this number has risen to 470. The all time high for ATV related injuries are 136,100. The last ten years accounts for 800,000 of them.

However, use of ATVs in industry is becoming increasingly more widespread, in for example industries relating to agriculture.

It was a tragic accident in such an industry that resulted in the death of a female worker. She was using an ATV with a sprayer attached to the back, not realizing that this had the ability to destabilize the vehicle. When she began to drive the ATV and sprayer uphill, the vehicle’s front wheels came off the ground. She tried to compensate by shifting her weight, but the ATV rolled over. When she tried to jump clear, she was crushed under the vehicle, and died from her injuries.
It can be hard to understand how something that even children sometime use as a recreations vehicle can have cause such tragedy.

But workers and employers need to realize that they are not like ordinary cars or motor bikes. They handle much differently. If you add extra cargo or machinery, then the ATV can become unstable, sometimes with tragic results.
It may have been designed for recreational use, but an ATV needs the same respect as you would show any industrial machinery.  

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