1. Chapter 3 – Safety in Livestock Production
Animal Science

2. 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????

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. The Sight Zone

14. 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

15. The Flight Zone

16. Cattle are Round House Kickers

17. 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 balk
Single file chutes should be 20 feet long

18. 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

19. Planning Your Facilities
Accommodates your working cattle and safe to humans
Accessible to people, trucks and trailers
Electricity and water

20. Factors to Consider Accessibility in various weather conditions
Proximity to pastures
Conditions of pasture fence
Drainage
Electricity and lighting
Proximity to neighbors

21. A Well Designed Facility
Holding pens
Alley from pens to working area
Crowding pen/tub
Working alley
Restraining area/squeeze chute
Loading area

22. Basic Corral Design

23. Common Design Flaws Pens to Large
Inadequate number of pens for sorting
Poor placement of gates
Not enough gates
Confusing animal flow

29. Livestock Facility Tips
All working facilities should be planned and well organized.
Lighting should be even and constant. No harsh contrasts of light.
Eliminate shadows
Noise reduction. Rubber stops and sliding gates.

30. 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.

31. 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.

32. 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.

33. Horse Safety
Information Sheet

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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.

37. 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)

38. 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

39. 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.