On August 30, 2019, Ms Claridge and a training partner were riding on a CTC-operated bush trail in dark conditions when the horses became spooked and stopped suddenly, causing both riders to fall.
Ms Claridge, 22, died at the scene.
CTC was sentenced in the Melbourne County Court last month after pleading guilty to one charge of failing to ensure that persons other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks arising from the conduct of its undertaking.
The company was also issued with an adverse publicity order requiring it to advertise the outcome.
A WorkSafe investigation found the trail included several features that could potentially spook a horse in the dark, including tree branches encroaching on to the area above the trail, pooled water and other horses or wildlife on or near the trail.
The court heard that it was reasonably practicable for CTC to reduce health and safety risks by installing floodlights around the trail to ensure visibility outside daylight hours, or limiting access to the trail to daylight hours.
WorkSafe Health and Safety executive director Narelle Beer said this tragic incident highlighted just how important it was to assess health and safety risks and put control measures in place.
“Although some safety measures such as changing operating hours may seem minor, a failure to implement them can lead to unimaginably painful consequences,” Dr Beer said.
“WorkSafe will continue to investigate and hold accountable anyone who fails in their duty to ensure their workplaces and work practices are safe and without risks to health.”
Ms Claridge rode 29 winners during her career, with her first winner coming aboard King’s Hand at her home track of Echuca on September 6, 2018.
WorkSafe said to eliminate or control risks associated with track work, employers should:
• Have policies, procedures and track rules in place and enforced, for example by having a track supervisor present at all training sessions.
• Ensure signage displaying ‘training track’ information is highly visible and easy to understand.
• Ensure track work is only performed where the track is in a safe and maintained condition and all entry points are either staffed if open, or secured if closed.
• Have a system or process in place to determine appropriate track work activities, for example, a process to match horses with rider ability — in particular with apprentice riders.
• Ensure track riding can only be performed in the dark (before dawn or after dusk) where there are adequate lighting systems in place.
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