Golden Bay farmer Melvin Robinson with sons Brendon (right) and Zane Robinson. Melvin was one of two farmers killed in separate accidents in December 2023 while working beneath a vehicle. Photo/ Robinson family
Then, days later, on December 22, 69-year-old Patrick Richard Goodin died on a farm in Ōhaupō, Waikato, when he was crushed by a farm vehicle which fell on him as he worked beneath it.
Goodin had also used the front forks of his tractor to raise the vehicle so he could get underneath and remove grass caught around the driveshaft.
Coroners’ warnings
Associate Coroner Stephen Burdes has now issued a warning about the lethal use of tractors in a manner they were “clearly not designed for”.
His comments in findings released today into Robinson’s death followed those of another coroner in relation to Goodin’s death.
Coroner Ian Telford said then that it was a reminder to the farming community to always use farm machinery in line with its intended purpose.
In today’s findings, Coroner Burdes urged “anyone, especially farm workers”, to “resist any temptation” to use the front forks of a tractor, or forklift, to lift a vehicle to work underneath.
Popular member of the community
Melvin Robinson was a popular and active member of the Golden Bay community, having moved there from Palmerston North in the early 1980s, when the opportunity came up to buy his first farm, his son, Brendon, told NZME.
“He looked at one up in Kaitāia and one down here, and chose down here because it was right by the sea.”
The Robinsons initially lived in Pakawau, at the base of Farewell Spit, before Melvin bought a small farm in the seaside hamlet of Patons Rock, about 10km west of Tākaka.
Brendon told NZME on behalf of brothers Aaron and Zane, and their sister, Bridget, that their dad was a “bit of a larrikin” who liked a beer, supporting and coaching rugby, and who loved his horse racing and the trotters he trained.
He said when they had all grown and left home, Melvin got into training horses on the long, sandy beach at Patons Rock.
Golden Bay farmer Melvin Robinson developed a love of horses he trained on the beach at Patons Rock. Photo/ Robinson family
“He’d train them behind his cart or he’d do three of them at a time behind the car.”
Brendon said it was this vehicle that his father was working on at the time of his death.
Fatal decision
On the morning of December 11, 2023, Melvin was at home figuring out how to remove wire, which had become wrapped around the car’s driveshaft.
A friend who had called in suggested using a disc grinder, which Melvin thought was a good idea, Coroner Burdes said.
About 3pm, Melvin’s neighbour heard the tractor running, and grew increasingly concerned when it was still running 30 minutes later but had not moved.
As he went to investigate, he met a police officer who was passing at the time and the two went to Melvin’s property.
They found the tractor still running with its front forks up in the air, with a car positioned below and a chain running from the forks to the front of the car.
They found Melvin pinned beneath it, lying next to a disc grinder.
The opinion of the pathologist who conducted the post-mortem found he died of crush injuries to his head and chest, likely resulting in traumatic asphyxiation.
Police investigation
Police investigators concluded that Melvin had raised the car off the ground by connecting a chain between the box frame of the front forks of his tractor and the front tow connector of his car.
The coroner said, based on police findings, the chain was likely wrapped around the highest and lowest metal struts of the box frame of the forks, and, while Melvin was under the car, the highest metal strut had snapped.
The weight of the car was no longer supported properly, and the car dropped on him.
Brendon believed a failure he observed in the chain was a more likely scenario.
He said his father was perhaps as much a risk-taker as many others, who lived knowing that any day, “something might fall on them”.
“They [farmers] do live on the edge a fair bit of the time, but I guess what happened was probably a little bit sillier than the normal stuff.
“He probably could have died a thousand times, and I was surprised that was the one that got him,” Brendon said.
Farmers’ organisation says ‘too many deaths’
Federated Farmers, in acknowledging the deaths of each man, told NZME that too many fatalities happened in agriculture, and the organisation was working hard on getting the numbers down.
WorkSafe NZ figures showed agriculture accounted for about 40% of all reported workplace fatalities in New Zealand, with vehicle accidents, livestock incidents, and machinery accidents the leading causes.
Federated Farmers’ national board member and arable group chairman, David Birkett, said there were a lot of moving parts to a farm and there was always potential for accidents to happen but the sector could “always do better”.
Federated Farmers national board member and arable group chairman David Birkett says the sector could “always do better” to reduce the number of accidents on farms. Photo / Tim Cronshaw
“Accidents do happen and, while some of them might be a freak or hugely unlucky, there’s always the chance that something can happen.
“One of the things we’re saying to farmers is, when you’re starting a new activity, just take that five or 10 seconds to look at the risks that could occur in that activity, and mitigate them the best you can,” Birkett said.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.