Navigating Horse Handling

Horse Handling Safety: Risks and Precautions

Horses pose significant safety risks and can cause serious injury if not handled properly. Learn about the risks of horse handling and how to keep yourself and others safe.

What is Horse Handling? Horse handling encompasses various activities including:

  • Riding horses
  • Caring for horses (such as stabling, leading, grooming, medicating, and breeding)
  • Moving horses (such as loading them into and out of trailers)

Many businesses involve activities where workers and others interact with horses, including farms, equestrian centers, horse-riding schools, and horse racing.

Risks Involved in Horse Handling

  1. Physical Injury
    • Horses are strong and can behave independently and unpredictably, causing:
      • Head and spinal injuries
      • Bites and lacerations
      • Fractures of arms and legs
      • Death
    • Head injuries are the leading cause of death in horse-related incidents.
    • Visitors, new, and inexperienced riders and workers are at higher risk due to unfamiliarity with horse behavior, nervousness, age, or lack of understanding of instructions.
  2. Hazardous Manual Tasks and Chemicals
    • Risks common to all animal handling include hazardous manual tasks and hazardous chemicals and medicines.
  3. Diseases from Horses
    • Diseases that can be transmitted from horses include:
      • Ringworm
      • Leptospirosis
      • Psittacosis
      • Japanese encephalitis virus
      • Hendra virus
      • Gastrointestinal infections like salmonellosis
      • Skin infections from bites, kicks, and working in animal areas with uncovered cuts and abrasions

Learn more about diseases you can catch from animals and the Hendra virus.

Managing the Risks

For Workers:

  • You have a responsibility under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 to take reasonable care for your own health and safety and for others.
  • Follow health and safety instructions from your employer.
  • Use equipment properly, follow safe work policies and procedures, and attend training.

For Businesses:

For further guidance on creating a safe work environment, read more about how to create safe work.

Step 1: Identify the Risk The first step in the risk management process is to identify hazards, meaning finding all relevant things and situations that may contribute to an incident. Consider what could go wrong and the potential consequences.

  • Inspect the Workplace: Evaluate how tasks are done, how work is designed and managed, the tools and equipment used, and the physical work environment.
  • Talk to Workers: Discuss potential hazards with workers individually, in meetings, or through surveys.
  • Review Available Information: Look at regulations, codes of practice, and standards related to animal handling. Check workplace records, inspection reports, sick leave, worker complaints, and injury compensation claims. Consult information from regulators, industry associations, unions, safety consultants, and suppliers.

Find more information on identifying risks in the How to manage work health and safety risks code of practice 2021 (PDF, 0.65 MB).

Step 2: Assess the Risk After identifying possible risks, assess them to determine:

  • If there is a risk to you or others
  • Whether effective control measures are already in place
  • What actions can be taken to control the risk
  • How urgently to act

Use the risk assessment template to guide and record your assessments.

Step 3: Control the Risk Once risks are identified, implement control measures. The best way to control risk is to eliminate the hazard completely. If that’s not possible, reduce the risk as much as possible by:

  • Substituting the hazard with something safer
  • Physically separating people from the hazard (e.g., with fences or barriers)
  • Using engineering controls or equipment (e.g., lifting devices)

Control Measures for Horse Handling:

  • Create a Safe Physical Environment: Ensure stables and yards are well-designed and maintained, avoiding sharp corners and tripping hazards. Manage lighting, ventilation, and noise. Keep floors dry and limit access to stables and yards.
  • Wear Suitable Clothing and PPE: Use protective equipment when caring for horses. Wear comfortable clothing, leather-soled riding boots, riding gloves, and a safety-approved riding helmet. Follow the AS/NZS 3838 Helmets for horse riding and horse related activities.
  • Manage Equipment: Choose appropriate, well-maintained equipment. Ensure tack fits both horse and rider properly, keeping it clean and free from damage.
  • Match the Horse to the Task and Person: Assess riders and their levels. Consider the horse's age, temperament, training, breed, workload, and condition. Match horses to the rider’s experience and abilities.
  • Follow Safe Riding Practices: Wear safety-approved helmets and suitable clothing. Adjust equipment from the ground, and mount in a safe, enclosed area. Stay alert and in control while riding, and take extra care in hazardous conditions.

Step 4: Review Risk Controls Risk management is ongoing. Regularly check to ensure control measures are working. Review controls when:

  • A control measure is not effective
  • A change might create a new risk
  • A new hazard or risk is found
  • Workers indicate a review is needed
  • A health and safety representative requests a review

For more details, refer to the How to manage work health and safety risks code of practice 2021 (PDF, 0.65 MB)
 

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