How important is yard safety?

[Mr_Ed]

Dear all,

I put the following message titled - How important is yard safety? - in the Lounge but on reflection the message may have been better here. It can be found at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1563915/an/0/page/1#1563915
I’d really appreciate it if any of you have any further thoughts if you could post them in the Lounge thread.

Thanks, Mr Ed.

The text of the message, with a further supplementary question reads:

How important is yard safety?

I'd be surprised if everyone didn't answer this as " very!" - but I'd hate to second-guess.

What I'm trying to find out is your experience of the safety competence of those who run yards or riding schools.

It would be nice to find out what sort of safety training those people have received, but I guess in many instances many of us won't know. We are more likely to see it in the results of how they and their staff manage their businesses on a day-to-day basis. However, if you are someone running a yard, and have received any safety training, what form did it take, and was it any good?

Safety is really just good practice, and should be part of the business. There are some out there who do it very well and some who are appalling.

One personal example comes to mind: when I moved to a new livery yard, on the surface everything seemed fine. The horses were all in stables within an enclosed barn. However, shortly after I moved there I noticed some cigarette butts in the barn. Then I saw one of the livery owners actually smoking. I was going to have a word with the yard owner -- who also came in smoking. I voted with my feet, and very quickly.

Yard safety is paramount to me. What are your thoughts?

Supplementary Question:

Just going back to the provision of safety training, which by the way doesn't cost the earth, I'm aware of three sources of safety training:

Warwickshire College/Equistudy run a Vocational Qualification Level 2 course - "Health and Safety with Horses" - see:

http://www.warkscol.ac.uk/equistudy/equistudy/coursepage.asp?courseid=9

Keits (and I'm sure others) offer safety training as part of their National Vocational Qualification courses - see:

http://www.keits.co.uk/index.asp?id=93&IDside=1&section=Horse+Care&set=1

And I know in the past that the British Horseracing Board have also sponsored dedicated health & safety training courses.

I just wondered whether anybody else knows of any other safety courses on offer?

 

[evsj]

Is it necessary to go on a course to establish yard safety? Surely most things come under common sense...i.e. not smoking in or around stables. It is down to the YO to control yard safety and should be responsibility of each owner to adhere to safety rules.....or they take their horse somewhere else.
Think BHS Approval scheme for yards is meant to provide recognition for yards following standard safety procedures but there are so many yards out there that are not approved that there is no control. I am not a yard owner but have part managed a yard in the past and safety was a huge issue. However, this is not observed by everyone in the business.