Farmer worker dies in cattle loading accident at Yarrawonga

WorkSafe Victoria are investigating after a 65-year-old man tragically died while working in Yarrawonga.

A man has died in an incident while moving cattle on a property near Yarrawonga. Picture: Jamie-Lee Oldfield

A 65-year-old man has died while working at a property near the Murray River town of Yarrawonga.

WorkSafe Victoria are investigating after the man died following an incident while moving cattle at a Yarrawonga South property.

It is understood the man was helping load cattle into a truck about 11am on Tuesday last week, WorkSafe said in a statement.

He was hit by a pen gate and fell backwards, subsequently hitting his head on the ground.

The worker later died in hospital.

WorkSafe Victoria said the fatality is the second workplace death in the state this year, compared to 10 at the same time last year.

Statistics from WorkSafe Victoria last year showed despite agriculture making up only two per cent of the state’s workforce, about 14 per cent of all workplace deaths since 2018 have occurred in the industry.

From 2018 to October last year, 33 on-farm deaths had been recorded and 1885 accepted WorkSafe Victoria injury claims in the agriculture industry.

Just days before Christmas last year, a 55-year-old man died while operating a telehandler at a western Victorian storage facility near Willaura.