Of the 27 people killed in agriculture last year, seven died as a result of coming into contact with cattle. Many others have been injured. Event chair Gwyn Barlow, IOSH Rural Industries Group member and chair of the Farm Safety Partnership’s Livestock Safety Group, said: “Farms are historically handed down generationally, with workers using systems and techniques that they’ve grown up with and were deemed acceptable in the past.
“The way of handling cattle though has evolved. Cattle have less human interaction now due to there being less staff on farms than there used to be, so it’s quite a different situation.
“Understanding the psychology of the animal, and how handling looks from the animal’s perspective, is becoming more and more important.”
IOSH believes there must be a continued effort to make the agricultural industry safer for workers.
Education and promotion of safe ways of working are a key component of this, combined with a better understanding of animal behaviour by handlers, equipment manufacturers, farm advisors and others to improve designs and install safer facilities.
Safe handling and understanding animal behaviour also ensures the safety and wellbeing of both animals, their handlers, vets and others exposed to risk when handling cattle, and anyone using public footpaths passing through farmland.
Adam Quinney from the NFU opened the event on behalf of the Farm Safety Partnership as well as providing a practical insight into handling systems on his farm. Representatives from the Health and Safety Executive, the British Cattle Veterinary Association and experts from Ireland were amongst those speaking with examples of best practice.
Practical demonstrations were also undertaken highlighting the issues of animal behaviour, managing cattle on footpaths and the design of cattle handling facilities.
Links to the presentations given can be found on the IOSH website here: http://www.iosh.co.uk/Membership/Our-membership-network/Our-Groups/Rural-Industries-Group/Past-events.aspx
The Farm Safety Partnership Cattle Handling Group will now be examining how to promote some of the information from the day. Information on safe cattle handling from a variety of sources can be found by visiting the Farm Safety Partnership website.