Agriculture & Horticulture · AG-003

Working Safely With Animals

Awareness learning for people working around farm animals in Aotearoa New Zealand.

1. Animals are a serious work risk

Farm animals can kick, crush, butt, bite, gore or knock people down. Size, speed, fear, pain, protective behaviour and changing surroundings can make even familiar animals unpredictable.

Core rule: Do not rely on familiarity with an animal as a control. Plan the task, the facility, your position and your escape route.

2. Competence, behaviour and planning

People handling animals need training, experience and supervision appropriate to the task. Before starting, consider the species, individual animal, group behaviour, task, facilities, weather, people present and what could cause agitation.

Move animals calmly and avoid unnecessary noise or pressure.
Know likely flight zones and blind spots.
Do not put an inexperienced worker into a difficult handling task alone.
Pause and reset when animals or conditions are not responding as expected.

3. Positioning, yards and escape

Good facilities reduce exposure but do not remove animal risk. Keep yards, races, gates and handling equipment maintained and clear of hazards.

Plan an escape route before entering a handling area.
Stay out of crush, kick and line-of-fire zones.
Do not enter a race with large cattle or put limbs through race walls.
Use barriers and purpose-designed handling equipment where practicable.

4. Higher-risk animals and situations

Risk rises with bulls, newly calved cows, protective mothers, unfamiliar or agitated stock, injured animals and close-contact procedures.

Do not improvise: A dangerous bull should not be moved on foot or alone. When working near a mother and young, use separation or a physical barrier where practicable and avoid placing yourself between them.

Loading, treatment, tagging, drenching and other close-contact work should use suitable facilities, competent people and task-specific controls.

5. Zoonoses and hygiene

Animal work can expose workers to diseases that pass between animals and people. Exposure can occur through urine, faeces, blood, contaminated water or material, aerosols, broken skin and splashes to the eyes, nose or mouth.

Wash and dry hands thoroughly after animal contact and before eating or drinking.
Cover cuts and use task-appropriate PPE.
Keep food and drink away from contaminated work areas.
Follow farm vaccination, disease-control and occupational-health arrangements.
Report symptoms or significant exposures promptly.

6. Stop · Think · Act

Scenario: You are asked to move an agitated cow with a young calf through a poorly maintained yard. A gate latch is unreliable and you would need to stand between the cow and calf to move them quickly.

What is the best response?

7. Knowledge check

1. Which statement is safest?
Familiar animals can be trusted not to injure handlers.
Animal behaviour can change, so controls and positioning still matter.

2. Before handling large cattle in yards you should:
Plan an escape route and check the handling area.
Stand inside the race to keep animals moving.

3. A dangerous bull should generally be:
Moved alone on foot by the most confident worker.
Managed using safer methods, suitable equipment/help, and not moved on foot or alone.

4. Which helps manage zoonotic disease risk?
Thorough hand washing/drying and appropriate exposure controls.
Only washing hands if an animal appears sick.

8. Complete

You have completed AG-003 Working Safely With Animals.

Awareness ≠ practical competence. Completing this micro-learning does not establish competence to handle cattle, bulls, horses, sheep or other animals, perform veterinary or husbandry procedures, or use specialist handling equipment. Employers/PCBUs must provide task-specific information, training, instruction and supervision and manage risks so far as reasonably practicable.

Official references

Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
WorkSafe NZ — Working with animals
WorkSafe NZ — Safe cattle handling fact sheet
WorkSafe NZ — Safe sheep shearing guidance
WorkSafe NZ — Prevention and control of leptospirosis guidance

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