A health, safety and well-being guide for the horse breeding and racing sectors, meant as a resource for the industry covering legislation and detailing best practices was launched by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) on Thursday.
As the first step towards fostering improvements in health and safety standards in the industry, HRI commissioned Red C Research in Spring 2022 to conduct a survey of a cross section of members of the industry, both online and by interview, to canvas attitudes on the subject.
The survey results revealed:
• As many as 41% of respondents did not feel well informed on the subject of health and safety (the problem being most urgent in smaller yards)
• A culture of risk assessment is lacking in the industry, with only 41% confirming that they risk assess at least once a year, and many prepared to admit that they risk assess only in response to a problem emerging
• No more than 50% of respondents said that they have a current safety statement
• Only 44% of respondents provide their staff with training, and of those, 58% would provide only informal training, and many are only training new staff members (and many felt the quality of this is declining)
• There are no uniform standards of health and safety practice in the industry, with the most obvious divide being differences in practice between large and small yards
Carol Nolan, HRI's Director of People and equuip, said, “The results of the Red C Research survey was invaluable to help us create this guide for all of those who feel poorly informed about health and safety issues and don't know where to turn for information. We hope, as a first step, it will help everyone in the industry, especially trainers and breeders, understand all the legal and moral obligations required and provide practical tools and advice to help meet those obligations.”
Visit equuip's website for more information.
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