HANDLING LARGE ANIMALS SAFELY
6
380-BKI-01-IAOT © 2022, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS)
1 877 494 WSPS (9777) | 905 614 1400 | wsps.ca
Special facilities should be provided so that a bull can be fed, watered, exercised and used for breeding
without the handler coming into direct contact with him.
Although cattle are not apt to attack you, they can overwhelm you with their size and weight. Leave
yourself an out when trying to corner or work with cattle.
Keep small children and strangers out. Beware of the area in front of the rear leg when working with
cattle. They tend to kick forward and then back. Pulling the kicking leg forward can be used as a means
of preventing a kick while working in the udder or flank area range.
SWINE
Though hogs are not normally aggressive animals,
they can become dangerous if threatened especially
sows protecting their young.
The best method by which to move hogs is by guiding
them with gates and/or panels.
Veterinary work and treatment of pigs should
be done only when they are separated from the
sow or when she is restrained in the crate or a
separate pen.
Your best safety aid for the jobs is a lightweight
hurdle or solid panel with a handle attached.
The panel should be slightly narrower than the
alleys through which the animals are being driven.
As with most animals, make yourself known
quietly and gently to avoid startling your hogs. A
knock on the door or rattling the door handle will
usually suffice.
Don't let small children reach through pens or fences to pet or feed hogs. Keep unauthorized people out
of pens or away from the facility altogether. Biosecurity can be an important issue.
WSPS.CA
