I send sincere condolences to the family of the farm worker who was killed in a crash near Worcester yesterday.

The deceased and 37 other farmworkers were travelling on the back of a truck when the driver lost control during heavy rain and crashed the vehicle.

Twelve other passengers were injured and taken to hospital.  No other vehicles were involved in the crash.

Preliminary reports suggest that the driver had pulled to the side of the road to make way for another vehicle when the accident happened.

I urge drivers, especially truck drivers and drivers of vehicle transporting essential service workers to make sure that the combined weight of their passengers does not exceed 50% of the total vehicle carrying capacity.

Where an employer arranges transport for workers performing essential services such as farmworkers, he/she must ensure that:

• No more than 50% of the licensed capacity of the vehicle or vessel is exceeded, and;
• All directions in respect of hygienic conditions and the limitation of exposure to persons with Covid-19 are adhered to.

The licensed capacity for a light delivery vehicle and trucks would not be the stated passenger capacity as for private and other public transport vehicles. The number of passengers allowed on a vehicle is limited by the maximum weight the vehicle can carry as stipulated by the manufacturer of the vehicle.

Each vehicle will have a weight carrying limit that is listed on the licence disc. For example, the licence disc will stipulate the following:

• GVM = 2 940kg (total max loaded weight)
• Tare = 1 960kg (total unladen weight)

In this example, the carrying capacity is therefore = 980 kg.

In order to ensure the 50% capacity restriction is adhered to, the maximum load of workers that may be loaded should not exceed 490kg, at 68kg per person average = 7 people.

The passenger limit is to be pro-rated depending on the legal carrying capacity of the vehicle.

In addition to ensuring that the weight limit does not exceed 50% of the capacity, it is also important that there be sufficient space between workers to ensure their protection. As a guide, the space utilised should be approximately 50% of what it could be if the vehicle is fully loaded.

Our thoughts go out to the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased and I wish the injured a speedy recovery.