Every year we hear of several cases where producers were hurt handling cattle.
In 1997, 44 percent of farm accidents were caused by or involved cattle.
These accidents, including those that involve handlers who accidentally inject themselves with health products, can carry long-term consequences. Measures must be implemented and reviewed to prevent accidents. If job turnover is great on your farm, you may need to develop standard operating procedures.
As in any industry, proper equipment maintenance is imperative to prevent accidents. Chutes need to be greased and oiled to ensure they move freely. Check all the quick release components to make sure they are properly adjusted. This will help ensure faster processing with fewer cattle breaking out and escaping.
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I am careful when working on the side of the chute where the release is located for fear it will snap open. Most new chutes have safety pins or chains. Make sure the squeeze mechanism catches properly. If it doesn’t, a sudden release under pressure may cause head injuries to those processing the cattle. You might want to deem your chute a hard hat and safety glasses area.
The safest advice is to never totally trust any mechanical device and always be alert. The unexpected can always happen when working cattle. Those who doze off, are inattentive or inexperienced are more likely to be injured. Always fully explain the job to new helpers and warn them of danger points in your system.
When injecting or examining cattle, be aware of where cattle might jump or move.
This ensures that the handler’s arms are not caught. Most new chutes have good access doors so make sure to use them. Don’t try to rush the process and vaccinate through bars. The pain of injection may cause cattle to lurch forward or jump, hitting workers and possibly breaking arms and hands.
If good access isn’t available, I try and give injections over the top of the chute so that my hands and arms are free.
Use alley stops wherever possible. They are easy to install and are well worth the investment. Installing posts behind cattle is asking for disaster, especially if the person is inexperienced. I have seen several farmers, their wives and employees hit and even knocked unconscious by posts that have gone flying after cattle backed up. It would be wise if we could all eliminate the need to use posts in our handling setups. Organizations such as workers compensation would view that as a dangerous situation. If the need arises to use a post, do so with extreme caution.
Self-injection is also a common accident. The two main causes are carelessness and trying to inject without adequate restraint.
The most common symptom is swelling caused by the large gauge needles but the health product and its carrier base can cause severe reactions. With automatic dose syringes and power syringes, a full or partial dose of product may be self-injected. It is important to clean the wound as thoroughly as possible and take the product and label when you visit your doctor, who can then check the precautions on the bottle and if necessary phone your veterinarian to find out additional pertinent information.
Products such as powerful antibiotics and sedatives are more dangerous than killed vaccines.
Dirty needles could introduce a bad infection.
As well, do not get into the habit of sucking on the needle cap. Product may have leaked into it and only a few drops absorbed through the mouth’s mucous membranes can be detrimental to humans. This is a particular concern with sedatives.
Walking around with full syringes in your pocket is an easy way to self-inject.
Change the needle every 10 or so animals. This becomes especially important if an accidental injection results. A dull needle causes much more trauma and the risk of infection goes up proportionally with the level of dirtiness.
If giving shots subcutaneously, the chance of injury goes up when using the tenting approach, where both hands are used – one to tent the skin and the other to inject. I have developed a one-handed approach where a short needle is inserted at an angle. You can feel the needle drop into the subdermal space, which keeps one hand free and out of harm’s way. Try and give as many medications either as subcutaneous injections or as pour-ons. Intramuscular shots not only cause more damage, but cattle are more apt to move and jump around. This increases the risk of injury and of broken needles, something we want to avoid.
Some pour-on insecticides are powerful, such as spotton. It only takes a small amount to touch your skin to cause nausea and lethargy. Wear appropriate gloves and make sure application devices such as guns are not leaking.
Always read labels and heed their advice. Prostaglandins are not to be given by women of childbearing age.
Roy Lewis is a veterinarian practising in Westlock, Alta.
