KEY POINTS:
The Department of Labour has called for an overhaul of track safety at horseracing courses, in the wake of the injuries suffered by prominent jockey Judy Lawson last year.
Lawson suffered serious head injuries in a fall during a race at the Rangiora track in October. The race meeting had been postponed from the previous day because the track was slippery.
She was in a coma for 12 days, later transferred to the brain injury unit of Burwood Hospital in Christchurch and her recovery process remains slow.
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) conducted its own inquiry into the fall, apportioning no blame and saying that Lawson's mount simply slipped.
Lawson's husband, Gary Lawson, described that report as a "whitewash".
The Labour Department investigated the incident and concluded no deliberate action was taken by the stipendiary steward in charge of the meeting to place jockeys at risk, its acting chief adviser of health and safety, Bob Hill, said.
"However, a further practicable step could have been taken to formally involve jockey representatives in the decision-making, which may or may not have affected the decision to allow racing," he said.
The department has called on NZTR to implement changes to reduce the likelihood of a repeat incident.
These include:
- establishing a formal procedure for situations when issues of track safety have been raised on race day or at trials. This procedure should involve jockey representatives, trainer representatives, the race course manager, and stipendiary steward
- decisions by stipendiary stewards not being made until they have considered input from all of the above parties
- implementing these procedures, including a system for ensuring compliance and addressing incidents of non-compliance
- addressing the suitability of the Rangiora track for future racing
Mr Hill says although the racing industry currently has informal procedures in place that allow jockeys to approach race stewards with concerns, this accident has highlighted the need for a formalised procedure.
"The expertise available to make informed decisions on the safety of a track is from those people actively involved in the industry -- jockeys, trainers, racecourse managers and the governing body,"says Mr Hill.
- NZPA
