EHJ March 2005, pages 26-27

Riding establishments are popular with school children but are rarely given full health and safety inspections. Karen Sinclair-Williams and Dr Mike Sinclair-Williams investigate the potential risks and what can be done to make the industry safer

Imagine you've been around horses all your life and you now run a riding school. You've got public liability insurance and you think the local council is confident your business is safe because they've given you a licence. On the surface, the riding establishment appears to meet the requirements of the law. But appearances can be deceptive.

The fact is that many riding schools are only visited when the licence is up for renewal. What's more, full health and safety inspections are often few and far between, so some proprietors are unaware that they may not be compliant with the law.

At the same time, few enforcement officers have specialist knowledge about riding establishments. After all, it's an industry that they rarely encounter. Even so, the profession has a duty to help educate businesses about health and safety.

Under the Riding Establishments Acts 1964 and 1970, all riding schools and trekking centres must have a licence to operate. Issued annually by local authorities, the primary aim of the licence is to safeguard the welfare of horses and ponies. Under the current system, veterinary surgeons assess the animals' health and the suitability of tack (saddles and bridles etc).

The HSE has issued local authorities with a plethora of guidance on how to apply health and safety legislation but at present there is nothing specifically aimed at riding establishments for enforcers or proprietors as it withdrew its own publication on this area a few years ago. A revised and updated version is unlikely to be available in the near future. And while the British Horse Society issues guidance to riding establishments approved under their voluntary scheme, there are limitations to its use.

RIDING ESTABLISHMENT HAZARDS

Before carrying out a risk assessment, proprietors need to ensure that the person undertaking it is not only competent to do so but is also able to objectively strike a balance between risk and benefit. A common problem is that the longer a person works with horses, the more complacent they may become about the acceptability of the risk associated with any one hazard. For instance, falls from horses, even from very experienced riders, are often seen as part and parcel of the job, as is being the recipient of the occasional bite or kick.

In theory, it should be possible to use incidents reported under Riddor to highlight the most frequently occurring hazards. However, statistics from the HSE local authority unit do not differentiate between equestrian sports, racing and horse-training stables, which makes it impossible to calculate the total number just for riding establishments. What's more, the incidents reported represent only a small percentage of the total numbers.

WHO IS AT RISK AND WHAT ARE THE RISKS?

Full and part-time paid employees and those carrying out voluntary work all come into contact with horses. In the main, it is older teenagers and adults who do most of the work but it's not unusual for much younger children to "muck in". Depending on the nature of their roles, staff could face a number of risks, such as kicks, falls and manual handling injuries.

Customers include all age groups and range from beginners to experienced riders. They also have various degrees of disability. At riding schools where customers simply turn up for a session, typically a one-hour lesson or ride, there is a good chance that they could be exposed to hazards such as kicks, bites and falls. At establishments where they may attend residential courses or unmounted training sessions, they could be exposed to the same range of hazards as members of staff. In general, most falls from horses take place when riders are undertaking work at speed such as cantering and galloping or when riding over jumps. Naturally, a rider who is trotting under supervision on a suitable horse in an enclosed indoor school will be at less risk than a novice rider taking a horse on the road and jumping obstacles in the woods. Not surprisingly, young or inexperienced horses are usually less predictable than mature ones and riders may be more likely to be injured as a result. CONTROL MEASURES Although it is almost impossible to assess the risks associated with each hazard, there are a number of control measures which riding establishments can apply to minimise or eliminate them. The BHS has produced examination syllabi and literature, which includes many of these measures. Proprietors carrying out risk assessments should include them in their procedures and staff training programmes to improve standards. The table (right) illustrates a number of important procedures that should be followed to minimise risk. One area that needs careful consideration is the quality of staff at riding establishments. While it may be true that there are some very experienced unqualified riders who give lessons and are perfectly competent to do so, there are far too many unqualified unsuitable instructors working in the business. The BHS has a universally recognised examination system but the problem is that many staff members gained their qualifications years previously and are therefore not up-to-date with current methods and practices. Enforcement officers should ask proprietors what they are doing to improve this situation. The BHS operates a register of instructors and to be included one of the teaching qualifications must be held along with up-to-date first aid training, continuing professional development certification and attendance on child protection training.

Karen Sinclair-Williams is housing needs manager at Spelthorne DC. E-mail: k.Sinclair@spelthorne.gov.uk

Dr Mike Sinclair-Williams is managing director of Matura, a risk management company

For more information, visit the British Horse Society at: www.bhs.org.uk

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of their employers.