Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of young people and adults at risk and protect them from harm.

As the regulatory and governing body of the sport, the BHA has a particular duty to protect children, young people and adults at risk involved in racing activities from all forms of abuse and harm, and to ensure there are clear processes and channels for them to report confidently any abusive or discriminatory behaviour. However, this duty is not confined to the BHA. It is shared by everyone in racing.

British Racing School, Newmarket

From the 1^st January 2019, the BHA introduced a new Safeguarding Policy and Regulations, putting in place practical measures, tailored to the requirements of racing, that seek to minimise the risk of harm, and enable us to respond as appropriate to suspicions and concerns whenever and wherever they may arise, and to take disciplinary and enforcement action against people in our sport who we believe may be causing harm or abuse to others.

The BHA Safeguarding Policy sets out the key principles as well as outlining signs and types of abuse and where concerns should be reported. Everyone shares the responsibility for safeguarding and, therefore, this policy and following  guidance is be both relevant and useful for all those involved in creating safe environments in racing whether as an employer, colleague, coach, or official.

The BHA also encourages all those involved in racing to consider their own safeguarding procedures and the risk of harm to young people or adults at risk in the course of their racing activities, particularly so where any individuals have direct, unsupervised access to young people, or adults at risk. Where such risk is identified, the BHA expects steps to be taken in order to reduce that risk as far as possible.

To support and enable the implementation of the BHA’s Safeguarding Policy and Regulations, an accredited learning programme has been developed as an Introduction to Safeguarding in the Horseracing Industry. This programme, which also includes an online assessment, will be accessible online in early 2019 and its content and principles will also be embedded into relevant existing training such as training for obtaining a trainers licence, foundation training for racing staff and apprentice and conditional jockey training. An accompanying PDF workbook is available for download here.

We encourage everyone involved in British racing to familiarise themselves with the Safeguarding Policy, Regulations and Code of Conduct and raise any concerns or queries with our Lead Safeguarding Manager Matt Mancini via safeguarding@britishhorseracing.com