Farm safety - sheep and shearing

Handling sheep can cause a variety of manual injuries, including strains and sprains. Inexperienced or unfit workers are more likely to injure themselves, so train your workers thoroughly and encourage them to maintain their fitness by exercising and eating well. Badly designed shearing sheds can present a range of hazards. Make your farm a safe working environment identify potential risks and modify the layout, equipment or safety practices to make sure that workers aren’t in any danger.

Risk assessment
You can assess potential risks in many ways:

• Walk through all sheep handling areas and look for hazards.
• Read over injury records to pinpoint recurring dangers.
• Talk over safety issues with other sheep handlers.
• Remember that inexperienced or unfit workers are at greater risk of manual handling injuries.

• Drink plenty of non-alcoholic fluids to prevent dehydration.
• Exercise regularly to improve and maintain fitness and stamina.
• Encourage unfit workers to improve their health and fitness, or confine them to low-risk activities.
• Eat a well balanced diet.
• Warm up before shearing with gentle exercises and cool down afterwards with slow, continuous stretches.
• Take regular breaks to alleviate fatigue.
• Protect their backs by paying attention to posture and using supportive braces.
• When handling a sheep, keep the animal close to their body and lift with their thigh muscles.
• Build a drafting gate at the end of the handling race so they don’t have to lift sheep.
• Get help when lifting heavy loads.

• Use non-slip surfaces on all tracks and walkways.
• Design a yard layout that allows sheep to work freely.
• Fit protective coverings to working and drafting races.
• Build yards on inclines rather than flat ground as they tend to drain better.
• Ensure adequate and even light.
• Regularly maintain all equipment.
• Ensure that all workers use safety equipment, such as goggles and gloves.
• Store chemicals correctly and follow the safety instructions on the label.
• Use a cradle when marking or mulesing lambs.
• Learn about animal diseases and promptly treat any animal with symptoms.
• Be aware that animals can transmit diseases via saliva, urine or open wounds.
• Practise good personal hygiene.

• Ensure that all workers use appropriate safety equipment, such as breathing equipment.
• Use positive air supply hoods.
• Use chemicals correctly according to the manufacturers’ instructions.
• Keep all equipment in good repair and replace any faulty parts.
• See your doctor if you experience any headaches, nausea or other ill effects.

• Plan the muster in advance and work out a plan with your workers.
• Assume that every ram will act aggressively and unpredictably.
• Don’t rush the muster.
• Use dogs rather than horse or motorbike riders to control the mob.

• Make sure the shed is ventilated and well lit.
• Place guards on all shearing machinery.
• Space your workers out to avoid clashing of downtubes.
• Use electric motors on wool presses to reduce noise pollution.
• Regularly maintain all equipment and keep in good repair.
• Make sure that emergency stop buttons are easily reached.
• Keep all walkways free from obstructions.
• Make sure catching pen floors are dry and non-slip.
• Keep other workers and dogs out of the shed.
• Keep a stocked first aid kit in an accessible place.
• Regularly check and maintain fire-fighting equipment, such as extinguishers.
• Thoroughly train new workers.

• Ensure easy access to a suitable first aid kit
• Make sure at least one person on the farm is trained in first aid
• Keep emergency numbers next to the telephone
• Plan routes to the nearest hospital
• Regularly talk through your emergency plan
• Make sure your children understand what to do.

• Your doctor
• Victorian WorkCover Authority Tel. (03) 9641 1555
• Victorian Farm Safety Alliance Tel (03) 9207 5513
• Victorian Farm Safety Training Centre Tel. (03) 5334 3510
• In an emergency, always call 000 for an ambulance.

• Reducing the risk of manual handling injuries includes attention to posture, correct lifting techniques and maintaining fitness.
• Walk through all sheep handling areas and look for hazards, then make the necessary changes to improve safety.
• Inexperienced workers are at greater risk of injury, so make sure they are thoroughly trained .

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