It is well known that Barriers International has, for many years, been at the forefront of the development of safety feature improvements for the wider equestrian sport sector.
Safety is our mantra.
In the late 1980’s, Barriers introduced a modular system of running rails for horseracing. Integral to the design in the early designs was that the running rail had NO metal support of any kind above ground; this is still true today.
In 2002, Barriers’ was requested, by British Eventing, to look into the safety of X-Country jumps used in the sport of Eventing. Jockeys were being severely injured by a horse falling and somersaulting, landing on the jockey. The final design of this safety feature became known as the ‘Frangible Pin’. This was then expanded to the the USA and across the world.
In 2008 Barriers’ was asked by Racing Victoria the governing body of racing in the State of Victoria in Australia to look at the safety of track rails used in the State, which were still metal. Racing Victoria had commissioned some research conducted by specialist crash investigators, DVExperts. The research suggested that if the Barriers running rail PVC system could be adapted into having a breakaway design at ground level then the rail system would have a huge impact on the safety feature of running rails on the racecourse.
The PostFuse was Born
The left hand fuse in the photograph is a ‘kickout’ design that sits on a plate (as seen on the right hand image) and if impacted by a falling jockey the post is able to break away releasing the post to pivot, thereby negating any serious impact damage to the jockey.
The right hand fuse in the photograph is a ‘breakaway’ design that sits in a standard, below ground, Barriers GroundFixing and if impacted by a falling jockey the fuse breaks and the post is then able to break away releasing the post to pivot, again negating any serious impact damage to the jockey.
The fused post has been in use on Australian racecourses for more than 10 years, it is a proven benefit. It is now time that these fuses are made available to racecourses in the United Kingdom. The Sport of Kings should welcome this safety feature advance into its’ environment.
For more information either call Barriers International on +44 (0)1666 839 100 or email us at [email protected] or go follow the link to our website safety page
Safety is our mantra.