Horse safety in spotlight

Mark and Juliana Waugh say they have been unable to wake from every parent’s worst nightmare since, in 2009, their then 18-year-old daughter Sarah died when she fell from a horse while attending Dubbo TAFE’S jackaroo/jillaroo course.

In this nightmare, there’s the heart-breaking anguish remembering how, just hours after Sarah kissed her mother goodbye as Mrs Waugh dropped her at the college campus, the beginner rider’s horse bolted, causing Sarah to fall and sustain fatal injuries.

Sydney District Court last week heard how their unstoppable grief became total disbelief when the family learnt Sarah’s horse Dargo was a former racehorse, which had run its last race just weeks before the tragedy.

The course teacher did not have the correct qualifications nor did she check the horse’s history.

Dubbo TAFE had just taken control of the horse-riding course after cancelling a contract with a local riding school and Sarah Waugh (pictured below) was in the first intake.

Mr and Mrs Waugh’s pleas for individuals to be held accountable were muffled in what they had regarded as the last throw of the dice when NSW WorkCover mounted its case against NSW TAFE last week.

The education facility was fined $400,000, reduced to $300,000 for its early guilty plea, for breaching occupational health and safety laws.

The court had set aside five days to hear the case, which lasted only a few hours due to the government-owned education facility agreeing to an amended statement of facts put forward by NSW WorkCover.

Despite a push by Judge James Curtis to identify the individuals responsible for the errors so he could assess their culpability, neither prosecution nor defence could or would name a person.

“The defendant didn’t provide any meaningful systems for its employees to follow,” Barrister Mark Cahill, representing WorkCover, told the court.

But Judge Curtis said it was essential to identify a person so he could look at their “moral blamedness.”

“When everybody’s in charge, nobody’s in charge,” Judge Curtis lamented.

TAFE’s barrister Martin Shume asked the judge to assign culpability to the director of education services, who remained unnamed, and not to the course teacher Sara Falkiner or the then course’s teacher Geoff Bastian.

In pleading guilty to the charge, which carried a maximum penalty of $825,000, Mr Shume apologised to the family and said there had been a “myriad of changes”, including a full review of any “risky” activities at the educational institute.

But Mr Waugh told the court, after more than five years with so much of the truth not revealed, he felt “completely betrayed.”

“Despite having asked questions about how and why Sarah died, despite having it confirmed years ago now that it was not Sarah’s fault, that the use of a registered racehorse fresh off the track was totally unsuitable, that the teachers were not qualified for the task at hand, that the ad hoc delivery of OH and S procedures and risk assessment was totally unsatisfactory, that an effective training delivery system was terminated before an alternate system of an equivalent or better standard was available and implemented, that safety equipment was available and not used... no person is yet to take responsibility for the myriad of mistakes that were made,”?he said.

“Ours is a lifetime sentence without her.”

As the Waughs this week prepare to meet the ombudsman to express their dissatisfaction with the handling of the case, they battle against some sentiment they are “just a grieving family looking for somebody to blame.”

“If it was a workplace accident that couldn’t be helped, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing but Sarah’s death was preventable,” Mrs Waugh said.

It was a sentiment echoed by Mr Waugh in court.

“I know people will say they have improved systems and procedures, and my wife and I have been doggedly pursing this safer future for the sake of others, but until safe procedures are embedded in the culture of organisations as minimum standards and become second nature to people, I know that nothing will have really changed.”

The Waughs say because the current industry guide is discretional, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on.

This week they planned to visit NSW finance minister Dominic Perrottet to lobby for some funding to go toward a compulsory code of practice.

NSW TAFE admitted its wrongdoing and says it has implemented substantial changes since the death of Sarah Waugh on its Dubbo campus.

A NSW department of education spokesman said the education provider had worked with equine industry experts, industry bodies and the Australian Skills Quality Authority to improve equine safety practices.

It’s revised the tender procedure for the supply of horses and done an occupational health and safety audit at Dubbo as well as upskilling staff and introducing higher level qualification and skill requirements for all equine staff.

TAFE has introduced its own safety code, which it’s also made available to other horse training providers, which is available on the Australian Horse Industry Council website.

The education facility runs 29 qualifications in equine related training activities, these include racing (including Thoroughbred and harness racing), recreational riding, performance horse, equine nursing, farriery and horse breeding.

But the Western Institute has stopped its horse training with no plans to reintroduce it.

“TAFE fully accepts we failed to ensure Sarah’s safety while she was in our care,” the spokesman said.

“TAFE has learnt a lot from this tragic accident and given full and serious consideration to all aspects of the Coroner’s report and WorkCover’s investigations.”

“All of the Coroner’s recommendations to TAFE have been fully met and further improvements are being implemented to ensure this tragedy is not repeated.

“We are deeply sorry and acknowledge the terrible impact Sarah’s tragic death has had on her family.”