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
 To
situations are or can be life or death
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

Eyewash solution

Adhesive tape

Ipecac

Cotton balls

Charcoal

Thermometer

Evaporated Milk and Can Opener

Safety pins

Salt

Tweezers

Teaspoon

Bandage scissors

List of names and doctors

Chemical ice packs

Splints
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 perception
 Cattle
have 60 degrees of vertical vision as
compared to 140 for humans
A
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
 If
like to follow each other
animal views dead end it will balk
 Single
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
 Proximity
in various weather conditions
to pastures
 Conditions
of pasture fence
 Drainage
 Electricity
 Proximity
and lighting
to neighbors
A Well Designed Facility
 Holding
 Alley
pens
from pens to working area
 Crowding
 Working
pen/tub
alley
 Restraining
 Loading
area/squeeze chute
area
Basic Corral Design
Common Design Flaws
 Pens
to Large
 Inadequate
 Poor
 Not
number of pens for sorting
placement of gates
enough gates
 Confusing
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
 Noise
shadows
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.