Chapter 3 – Safety in Livestock Production

Animal Science

Why is it important to be safe when working with farm animals?

For the protection of the animal and human workers

Most situations are or can be life or death

To be profitable Other Reasons????

What will we be focusing on?

Types and Kinds of Injuries

Human and Environmental Factors

Chemical Safety

First Aid Kits

Heat and Humidity

HAZARDS IN HANDLING LIVESTOCK

HORSE SAFETY

PPE

FACILITIES

Fire Safety

Bio Security and Agroterrorism

WHY SAFETY?

2ND most deadly job (21 workers for every 100,000 death rate)

Livestock cause very few deaths but are the leading cause of injury

Machinery, falls, tractors lead most areas

More than 200 children die each year as a result of farm injury

The annual cost of farm accidents is estimated at $4-$5 billion dollars

Farmers who hire others to work for them on their farm must follow and abide OSHA standards

OCCUPATIONAL SAFTEY AND HEALTH ACT

TYPES AND KINDS OF INJURIES

Most people hurt by cattle or hogs are males

Equal numbers of males and females are hurt by horses

Cattle and horse kicks are most often the cause of injury followed by falls from riding horses

Most serious accidents occur with horses and bulls

FEWER THAN 10% OF INJURIES ARE TO HIRED HELP OR VISITORS TO THE FARM

HUMAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS RELATING TO SAFTEY

Human error is the most major factor in the cause of farm accidents

Young people (under 25) and older people (over 64) are the largest range of individuals hurt

People who are not trained properly

People that fail to wear proper PPE

Dangerous environments (manure pits, corrals, silos, etc)

Not well ventilated confinement facilities

No back up electrical power

CHEMICAL SAFETY

Complete each JIGSAW Sheet and REPORT your findings to the group

Wear PPE

Read the Label

Keep the Label Handy

Use Common Sense

First Aid Kits

Bandages

Adhesive tape

Cotton balls

Thermometer

Safety pins

Tweezers

Bandage scissors

Chemical ice packs

Splints

Eyewash solution

Ipecac

Charcoal

Evaporated Milk and Can Opener

Salt

Teaspoon

List of names and doctors

Heat and Humidity Factors

Heat Exhaustion

Heat Stroke

Dizziness, nausea, feeling weakness, lowered body temperature, and cold, clammy feel to the skin

Reduce body temperature as quick as possible

HAZARDS IN HANDLING LIVESTOCK

When animals are handled there is always a possibility for injury

The best way to prevent harm to you or them is to be aware of hazards and have good facilities

No small or confined areas for work and animal together

A mangate or other means of quick escape are needed

Catwalks should be a part of chutes and alleys – Guardrails should be provided for catwalks 18” above the ground

Provide non-slip flooring where possible

Hazards (Continued)

No sharp corners or protrusions

Lighting should be adequate

Never approach a cow from the rear or side. Try to approach from the front while talking in a conversational tone.

Always wear boots or steel toe shoes when working with livestock

Cattle See the World Differently

Cattle can see 300 degrees with a blind spot directly behind them

Cattle have poor depth perceptionCattle have 60 degrees of vertical

vision as compared to 140 for humansA shadow on the ground may look to

be a deep crevasse to them

The Sight Zone

Flight Zone

The Animals Personal Space (comfort zone)

May be 5 feet for tame cattle to 300 feet for wild cattle

Increases when approached from the head

Increases when cattle are excited

The Flight Zone

Cattle are Round House Kickers

Curved Working Chutes

Prevent the animal from seeing the chute or truck

Cattle like to follow each other If animal views dead end it will balkSingle file chutes should be 20 feet

long

Response to Movement or Strange Sights

Styrofoam cup in chute will cause a entire herd to balk

A jacket hung on the wrong post will cause balk

Use solid chute sides where cattle cannot see through the fence

Stand back from head gate

Planning Your Facilities

Accommodates your working cattle and safe to humans

Accessible to people, trucks and trailers

Electricity and water

Factors to Consider

Accessibility in various weather conditions

Proximity to pasturesConditions of pasture fenceDrainageElectricity and lightingProximity to neighbors

A Well Designed Facility

Holding pensAlley from pens to working areaCrowding pen/tubWorking alleyRestraining area/squeeze chuteLoading area

Basic Corral Design

Common Design Flaws

Pens to Large Inadequate number of pens for sortingPoor placement of gatesNot enough gatesConfusing animal flow

Livestock Facility Tips

All working facilities should be planned and well organized.

Lighting should be even and constant. No harsh contrasts of light.

Eliminate shadowsNoise reduction. Rubber stops and

sliding gates.

Livestock Facility Tips

Design chutes either working or loading to be single file.

Keep floor level or texture consistent.Reduce all foreign or moving objects

from the working area.Create shields or blinds for workers to

stand behind.

Livestock Facility Tips

Locate drains and metal grates outside working area.

Working alleys need to have solid sides. The animal should see only one way out. Cut gates should be see through.

Concrete surfaces should be deeply grooved and level to prevent slippage.

Livestock Wisdom

Animals have very little patience you should have more.

Stress is a major contributor to economic losses.

All animals are potentially dangerous. For every livestock death there are 400 disabling injuries.

Horse Safety

Information Sheet

HAZARDS OF ANIMAL DISEASES Zoonoses – diseases and parasites transmitted between man and animal

Rabies

Brucellosis

Bovine TB

Trichinosis

Salmonella

Lepto

Ringworm

Tapeworm

To Avoid: Clean

Vaccinate

Quarantine Sick Animals

Avoid Exposure

Wear Rubber Gloves

PPE – Personal Protective Equipment

Respirators for poor ventilated areas, dusty, or moldy hay, silos, manure storage areas, and with the use of pest-control chemicals

Goggles/Safety Glasses with impact lenses for dust and chemicals

Gloves (Cloth or Leather)

Livestock workers are exposed to 3 kinds of atmosphere contamination:

- Dust and particulate from feed

- animal hair

- Fecal matter

PPE

Additional concerns are given for pesticides, gases from manure pits (ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, methane, & carbon dioxide)

2 types of respiratory equipment

- Air purifying respirators use filters (one removes particles and one removes vapor and gas)

- Atmosphere-supplying respirators supply air from a source

- Only respirators that meet NIOSH standards should be used.

FACILITIES

What are some facility dangers you can think of?

Silo Hazards (falls and gases)

Grain Handling and Storage Hazards (unloading grain, suffocation, dust and molds, etc.)

Livestock Confinement Buildings (gases, power failures, fire, explosions)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAsBscxpKks

Fire Safety

Electrical, heaters, carelessness, lightning, arson, and spontaneous combustion

70% of farm fires are caused by electrical issues

To protect you and/or your farm:

- Protect buildings from lightning

- Store fuels properly

- Clean regularly

- Don’t allow those to smoke around high fire hazard areas

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5xlpS0KrPY

BioSecurity and Agroterrisom

Biosecurity – protection from biological harm or living things from diseases, pests, and bioterrorism

Bioterrorism- the deliberate use of biological or chemical weapons

Agroterrorism – the deliberate use biological or chemical weapons to bring harm to agricultural enterprises

Agrosecurity – the use of all possible means and procdures to guard against deliberate or incidental harm to the food production supply.