HUNT ROAD CHAOS

Many of us have seen hunts behaving recklessly on public roads, showing no concern whatsoever for safety of other road users or the safety of their own employees. They behave as if they have every right to do this – but taking risks with people’s safety is, of course, against the law. What they are doing is exceptionally dangerous and it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or even killed. 
Police deal with most of the law-breaking and dangerous behaviour on our roads. But, if the perpetrators are a business – or if they are an organisation that employs even one person, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is usually the relevant organisation. However, according to the HSE,  these incidents are infrequent, so they are making every effort to offload the responsibility on to local authorities. But, these incidents are not infrequent – they are simply underreported and our aim is to change this. 

So, what do WE do now?

We can catch them at it, collect evidence and report it. This guidance covers:

• Background
• What to look for
• What evidence to collect
• Who to report it to
• How to report it
• FAQs [coming soon]

Our ultimate aim is to force the hunts to respect the roads and behave in the same way as anyone else, or face the consequences.

background

Many hunts are businesses – or at least employers – and are therefore subject to exactly the same Health and Safety legislation as everyone else. This includes the Health & Safety At Work Act 1974, Section 3 of which states:
“It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not exposed to risks to their health or safety.”
In practice, this means that UK businesses and employers have to carry out risk assessments to identify the risks their activities could pose to the public and then put in place measures to mitigate those risks.

For example, hunts should be assessing and adequately mitigating the entirely obvious and foreseeable risks associated with their activities being carried out in the vicinity of public highways, railways and airfields. These risks include those relating to the control of hounds and the disturbance of other animals, as well as activities carried out on the highway itself such as traffic management, riding in groups and the operation of vehicles.

This is clearly not happening. We are therefore asking why hunts are being allowed to flout these important Health and Safety laws, and why is the relevant enforcement agency failing to protect the public from the activities of these employers?

The relevant national enforcement agency for virtually all hunt related health and safety violations is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and it is the HSE that should be taking action to investigate incidents caused by the hunts and force them, as well as their governing bodies, to change their ways and obey the law.

However, although the HSE have acknowledged they are the relevant authority, their current position is that these issues are simply not important enough to warrant their attention, so they are currently not willing to do anything to protect the public from the dangers posed by hunt businesses.

The evidence, of course, clearly indicates otherwise and, since December 2018, UK hunts have caused 379 incidents, 328 of which were traffic incidents, 31 were collisions and 20 involved other modes of transport (eg railway). In the hunting season, this means that they are responsible for around 5 incidents a week.  These figures come from our own data collection methods – not all of them will have been reported to the HSE.

Most of the serious incidents over the last two years caused by hunts have occurred on public highways but some have occurred on railways and one has occurred on an active airfield. They can also occur on public footpaths or other areas as well. Please report these as well.  

For more information, please take a look at this PowerPoint presentation. 

What to look for

The HSE’s job is to make businesses and employers take responsibility for the safety of their own employees AND everyone else affected by their activities. So you are looking for incidents showing that hunt have taken risks with people’s safety (not just the public, but with their own too), and that these risks would have been reasonably foreseeable to an organisation that was properly considering them.

This is not an exclusive list – but look for:

• Horses and riders causing traffic to stop or swerve
• Hounds causing traffic to stop or swerve
• Hunt causing traffic queues
• Horses, riders and/or hounds on the wrong side of the carriageway
• Quad bikes ridden by hunt members on public roads [more advice to come on this]
• Horses and riders stopping on the highway
• Any other activity by the hunt on the roads that appears dangerous

What evidence to collect

• Video
• Photographs
• Note the weather conditions, and time of day
• Ensure that your evidence is time and date stamped
• Note the exact location – What3Words is useful.

Who to report it to

You can check to see if a hunt is a registered business – click here. But as most hunts ARE employers, then you can assume that the H&S legislation applies to them.

It is easy to report a relevant incident to the HSE using their internet Health & Safety Concern Reporting System – link below

Health and Safety Executive Reporting Form

How to report it

For help filling the Reporting Form, click here
If you need any more help or advice, please contact us on roadchaos@actionagainststaghunting-org.stackstaging.com

Please also let us know that you have reported the incident – use this form (takes about 20 seconds to fill in)

Thank you for your help with this – together we WILL make a difference!

Help with filling in the form can be found here

FAQs – Submitting Concern Reports for hunt breaches of Health and Safety Legislation

Q – What is our overall aim with this campaign?
A – To reduce the risks to the public, and to workers, as well as making sure that hunts are treated no differently to any other business type.In order to comply with their duties and responsibilities under health and safety legislation, hunts will have to change the way they operate and, in fact, if this was properly enforced it would likely prevent hunts from chasing live quarry and would force them to actually follow artificial scent trails.

Q  – Many, perhaps most hunts are NOT limited companies, legally they are like clubs (boy Scouts etc), still employing people, they are given Liability Insurance by the Countryside Alliance.  Would any of this relate to those hunts which are not companies?
A –   Any organisation that has paid workers is governed by Health and Safety legislation. It is highly likely that all hunts will employ a groom (at least) or have paid contractors. It is reasonable to assume that we can report any incident for any hunt to the HSE, so long as the evidence shows that the hunt took risks with the safety of their employees and members of the public.

Q  –  Which level of Local Authority is involved with Health and Safety Legislation?
A  –  Usually the District Council, unless it is unitary (eg Dorset Council) in which case there is only one council to contact anyway.

Q  –  At some point, a decision will have to be made  –   are the local authorities responsible for breaches of Health and Safety law by the hunts, or is it the HSE itself. Which would we prefer?
A  –  We would prefer it to be the HSE.  If the LAs were forced to accept responsibility, it is likely that responses to concerns would be patchy and inconsistent. It might depend on which political party is in control of that particular authority. Resourcing might also be an issue. If the HSE accepts responsibility, then it is more likely to be a national response, responded to and enforced with consistency.

Q  –  What about quad bikes – is this something that the HSE can deal with?
A  –   Quad bikes are really covered by legislation such as the Vehicle Construction and Use Regulations which, along with Road Traffic Act violations, is enforced by the Police (along with the Driver Vehicle Standards Agency).  However, police response is inconsistent, with some groups complaining that they are always reporting overloaded quad bikes etc, and the police take no action. What is really required here is for the police to take responsibility for it. Having stated that, employers should ensure that their workers are operating safely and legally.  Therefore,  if quad bikes are involved in the incident you are reporting to the HSE, they should be included in the report.

Q  –   I am not comfortable about putting my personal details on a report to the HSE. What can I do about that?
A  –  The HSE is bound by the Data Protection Act, so your details will be protected. All you are asked for is your name, email address and telephone number.

Q  –  How can we make sure that the hunt wouldn’t be “let off” by denying they were there?
A  –   It is very important for us to include evidence in the concern report. A precise location (maybe what3words) is needed, and the time and date. Naming the hunters would be useful – the Hunt Saboteurs Association offer help with identification. Please email them on chair@huntsabs.org.uk.

Q   –  Can you submit video and photos on the web form?
A  –  Yes you can upload them on the form. Another way is to upload your video to YouTube and create a private link to include in the report. You can create a small file of it but have a more detailed version if you need it. Don’t delete the originals.

Q –  What about hounds? How are they involved?
A  –  The H&S legislation focuses on people rather than animals. However, uncontrolled hounds and/or live quarry being chased by hounds commonly cause dangers to road users.  For example, as an entirely instinctive reaction, most drivers attempt to take emergency action to try and avoid hitting a hound or a deer/fox etc on the carriageway.  However, this can result in them colliding with other vehicles and/or even leaving the carriageway and entering a ditch or colliding with a tree etc.  A large proportion of hunt related HSE Concern Reports will involve uncontrolled hounds on roads.  However, the reports should focus on the risks these caused to road users, and to the workers who had to retrieve them.  In addition to this, road traffic collisions involving dogs are considered to be ‘reportable incidents’ and should be reported to the Police.

Q  –  How long between an incident and reporting is allowed? Is it worth reporting something from last season, for example?
A  –  While it is best to report the incident as soon as possible, there is no specific limit. That said, it is unlikely that the HSE will investigate historical incidents.

Q  –  What key words do we need to use in our reports?
A  –  HSE Concern Reports should always refer to the dangers posed to the public and to workers.  Explanations as to why it was particularly dangerous are therefore useful, such as: ‘the incident occurred on a high speed rural road’ or ‘at a blind bend’ etc.  Commonly, the incidents involve situations such as ‘the uncontrolled hounds caused road users to take emergency avoiding action’; ‘workers were retrieving hounds from the live carriageway’; ‘the mounted riders were acting dangerously and using the full width of the carriageway’ etc.  Other issues that should be included, if applicable, include: lack of PPE; evident lack of appropriate training; dangerous operation of vehicles (often quad bikes) and/or other equipment; operating on the highway without any adequate traffic management in place; operating on the highway in poor visibility conditions with inadequate lighting etc; as well as obstruction of the highway and causing stationary or slow moving traffic.  Again, if applicable, it is also important to state that the incident was not isolated, and that the hunt commonly and frequently causes these dangers, and will continue to do so until or unless enforcement action is taken to prevent this.

Q  –  What about “Fence Menders” who ride around with massive fencing posts with points on them?
A  –  You can submit a concern report with evidence as that is clearly a dangerous thing to do.  Again, however, this is also a matter for the police.

Q  –  What about hunt support? Would their actions be included in a concern report? They often behave in an anti social way – blocking sabs’ vehicles.
A – This is a difficult one because, in theory, hunt supporters are ‘free agents’ and it is unreasonable to expect the hunt to be able to manage their behaviour.  However, there may be an argument that, if this behaviour follows a pattern and commonly occurs, it is a foreseeable effect of the hunt’s activities, and therefore the hunt should do what it can to minimise this.  It’s very much like Football Clubs and their supporters.

Q  –  Can I report the incident even if I wasn’t actually there?
A  –  Yes, you can. The only disadvantage to this is if you complain about the way the HSE have dealt with it and it reaches as far as the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman can only help if you were directly affected by the incident.If we need to find the person who took the video ask the Hunt Saboteurs Association for help – chair@huntsabs.org.uk.

Q  –  Would it help if more than one person reports the incident?
A  –  Yes

Q  –  Many people rent horses to go hunting, would those companies renting horses be liable in any way?
A  –  Possibly, although I think it likely that the renting will require renters to sign a form indemnifying them from claims arising from illegal activity etc.  Much as a car driver renting a vehicle, the driver/rider is typically held liable, and should have personal insurance cover for third party claims.

Q  – Is the HSE interested in obstruction of the highway?
A  –  Obstruction of the highway is a police matter. However, if it formed part of the incident where employees or members of the public were put at risk, then you should mention it. But on its own, it isn’t of interest to the HSE. If police attend at the time, they are likely just to ask the people obstructing the highway to move on, rather than investigate and consider prosecution, unless they refuse to move on.

Q  – People involved in traffic management are supposed to be CSAS registered aren’t they?
A – Unless they are Police Officers, yes. In order to have powers to stop and direct traffic, the company needs to be CSAS accredited, and the individual needs to be CSAS trained and accredited too.  Examples are companies like these:

https://trafficmanagementcompany.com/service/csas-traffic-officers/

https://www.rightguard.co.uk/services/csas-accredited-traffic-officers/

The expense is not insignificant and we very much doubt any hunt has gone through it.

Anyone NOT accredited has no powers to stop and direct traffic and is potentially committing the offence of obstructing the highway – and road users are under no obligation to stop or take instruction from them.

NB// Based on our experience, we suspect that any hunts actually applying for CSAS accreditation wouldn’t actually be granted it.  Most chief constables are quite reticent to grant accreditation due to liability issues if it all goes wrong and comes back to them.

Q – What about loose hounds?
A – Section 27 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 states:

“Control of dogs on roads.

(1)A person who causes or permits a dog to be on a designated road without the dog being held on a lead is guilty of an offence.

(2)…..

(3)…..

(4)….. subsection (1) above does not apply to dogs proved—

(a)to be kept for driving or tending sheep or cattle in the course of a trade or business, or

(b)to have been at the material time in use under proper control for sporting purposes.”

Therefore, in order for hunt hounds to be on roads without leads, they have to be under proper control.

Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs), which are enforced by Local Authorities, can also include requirements to put dogs on leads in specific places. Hunt hounds are often said to be exempt from such requirements but we are recently discovering that hunt hounds are not specifically mentioned as an exception. However, this is a separate issue.

Q – What about the “field”? Are their actions relevant to a Concern Report? 
A  –  All of the riders count because the event manager is responsible for the safety of the whole event. So paying riders, guests and other attendees are also relevant.

Q  –  What about under age children with the hunt?
A  –  The hunt has to put in place sufficient H&S measures to account for children too. H&S at work act is drafted to protect everyone.

Q – What about pony clubs – are they affected by the legislation?
A – It is unlikely that pony clubs will have paid employees. 

Q – What if a hunt employee deliberately does something dangerous?
A  –  If  a hunt worker or someone associated with the hunt deliberately carries out a violent act etc, it’s likely that this will be treated as an act by an individual, and it would be considered unreasonable for the hunt to have taken measures to prevent it happening.

Q  –  Does drinking and riding a horse come under HSE as well?
A – Potentially, because it could be argued that a reasonable risk assessment and control measure for hunt events would include not taking part whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Q – What if you see a hunt member galloping quickly along a road?
A – This is clearly a dangerous practice and, if applicable, should be included within HSE Concern Reports.  However, unless this actually caused a personal injury or a road traffic collision, it would not typically be serious enough to warrant a report submitting on its own.

Q – What if you see a hunt member carrying a firearm on a horse?
A – Clearly a risk as it might go off and injure someone, or cause the horse to bolt and then injure someone.  However, the hunt will likely argue that this is necessary and therefore this is likely to come down to a subjective assessment.

Q – What if you see a hunt member wearing a top hat or a bowler hat on a horse?A – Again, this is clearly a dangerous practice and, if applicable, should be included within HSE Concern Reports.  However, unless this actually caused a personal injury, it would not typically be serious enough to warrant a report submitting on its own.

Q  –  Is there a point when negligence comes in? When the same type of accident happens more than once?
A  –   Yes  –  once a hunt is ‘on notice’ of a particular dangerous issue and there is a foreseeable risk that it will re-occur, then their risk assessments and control measures should be adapted to prevent this.

Q  –  Is the British Hound Sports Association (previously the Hunting Office) liable?
A  –   Potentially, yes. For example, we know they have a generic risk assessment form for hunts and they issue advice and training to hunts on how to operate safely.  Therefore, if a particular hunt defended itself by indicating that it followed the advice/guidance/forms from the overseeing organisation, then the overseeing organisation itself could easily end up being scrutinised.

Q – What are the penalties for breaching the H&S at Work Act?
A  –  Fines issued to organisations breaching the H&SWA are potentially unlimited and Board Directors of businesses can potentially serve prison sentences.