The Impact of COVID-19 on Staff Working Practices in UK Horseracing

Emma  Davies; Will McConn-Palfreyman; Jane Williams; Geoff Lovell

doi:10.3390/ani10112003

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The Impact of COVID-19 on Staff Working Practices in UK Horseracing

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

The Impact of COVID-19 on Staff Working Practices in UK Horseracing

Emma Davies, Will McConn-Palfreyman, Jane Williams and Geoff Lovell

Animals, Vol.10(11), pp.1-18

2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10112003

PMCID: PMC7692747

PMID: 33143200

Appears in COVID-19 Research

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Abstract

horseracing

pandemic

job security

employment

social distancing

COVID-19

Due to COVID-19, horseracing was required to cease all activity in March 2020; however, little is known about the pandemic’s impact on staff working practices. This study investigated the impact of COVID-19 on staff working practices during the initial lockdown phases. An online survey about working conditions during lockdown was answered by 287 participants. Chi-squared tests for independence and binary logistic regression (BLR) analysis was undertaken. A total of 53.7% (n = 154) of staff were working during lockdown. Pandemic-specific workplace changes were reported as effective by 87.8% (n = 115) of staff. Flat grooms reported workplace changes as less effective (χ2 (52, n = 131) = 92.996, p < 0.001). A total of 67.2% (n = 193) of staff were positive about job security. Trainers and grooms were significantly less likely to report jobs as secure (χ2 (52, n = 287) = 75.653, p < 0.05). The findings suggest that most of the racing industry positively received changes made by their employers to tackle the pandemic, and for staff still working during lockdown, their health and safety was prioritised. Continued development of employee support structures to promote job security and workforce stability is advised, which will minimise the disruption of staff changes on the care and welfare of the horses.

Details

Title: The Impact of COVID-19 on Staff Working Practices in UK Horseracing
Authors: Emma Davies (Author) - Hartpury University
Will McConn-Palfreyman (Author) - University of Stirling
Jane Williams (Author) - Hartpury University
Geoff Lovell (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Social Sciences - Legacy
Publication details: Animals, Vol.10(11), pp.1-18
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2020
DOI: 10.3390/ani10112003
PMID: 33143200; PMC7692747
Copyright note: Copyright (c) 2020 The Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Organisation Unit: Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; School of Social Sciences - Legacy; Forest Research Institute; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99487108502621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science; Veterinary Sciences; Zoology

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