SafeWork NSW has warned horse trainers, coaches, riding centres and studs across the region the buck stops with them when it comes to protecting the safety of inexperienced handlers on the job.
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During the first of three workshops to be held at the Albury-Wodonga Equestrian Centre, Inspector Clayton Baldwin said horses posed high risks in the workplace if proper safety procedures were not in place.
He revealed there were 133 horse-related fatalities in Australia between 2000-2014 with one paid worker and 10 other people hospitalised every day with a horse-related injury.
More than two-thirds of those hospital admissions are females, many of them young and often inexperienced working on farms, race tracks, at riding schools and trail-riding centres.
SafeWork NSW is conducting a series of seminars across the state to explain and explore the issues raised in a new code of practice for the entire equine industry.
The new code, ‘Managing risks when new or inexperienced riders or handlers interact with horses in the workplace’, was developed after the tragic death of Sarah Waugh on March 24, 2009.
She died after falling from a horse during a beginners’ jillaroo course at Dubbo TAFE.
Only last month, a 17-year-old teenage girl died in a “freak” horse riding accident at Melbourne.
Serena Stanley, who moved from the Sunshine Coast to Melbourne for a job at a stud, suffered fatal injuries after a fall on January 28, 2018.
Mr Baldwin said the new code was designed to provide practical guidelines for identifying and minimising risks for people who had minimal skill or knowledge about interacting with horses.
It applies to anyone who has an equine business or “undertaking” but excludes volunteer associations and people who have horses for private/recreational use.
AWEC will host two further workshops on March 7 from 6pm and March 29 from 11am.
CSU associate professor Hayley Randle is set to speak on the importance of equine training for safety at the March 22 seminar.
For more information about the code of practice or to register for the seminars, contact Stephen Jones, principal inspector for SafeWork NSW Albury region, on 0427 441 377 or stephen.jones@safework.nsw.gov.au
To dowload the full code go to www.awec.net.au