Prepare For Emergencies
By Don Lidster, DNL Farms Ltd.
It only takes one serious emergency to remind you of how important it is that your staff is prepared. I’m not talking about the minor illnesses, minor cuts and bruises that can be handled with a First Aid Kit or just knowing where the closest clinic, doctor or hospital is located.
I’m talking about bigger issues such as gas leaks or “pit gas” back up, water supply failure, electricity failure, severe weather (like a wind takes the roof off the barn) and --the most dreaded of all -- fire.
Some swine production units have specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place that deal with all of the above. SOPs are a good start but are your people trained to execute the SOP and execute the SOP under the pressure that comes with a catastrophic incident?
If you have your staff write or orally answer an exam plus do a live demonstration, it will give you more assurance that they can perform under pressure. Having the staff “sign off” that they have successfully completed the exam may save you a lot of “red tape” and perhaps dollars if your personal or company liability comes into question.
If you do not have SOPs, do you have an evacuation plan for your staff in case of fire? Are all exits clearly marked? Is there a given place where staff is supposed to congregate in the event of a fire so they can be easily accounted for? Does staff know where to contact fire departments, ambulances, utilities providers (gas & electricity), police, emergency measures organizations and other service providers in the event of a fire?
A company here in Canada has developed a program called Pig Safe. Part of that program ensures that the barn operators have a good relationship with the local fire department. This goes as far as ensuring that the fire department has diagrams of each of the barns in their area. If they are called to a fire at one of these units the people in the fire truck are equipped with a folder containing all the details of that barn that they will need like:
- Where will the people will congregate
- Where the gas and electricity shut offs are located
- Where extra water is available
- Who has tractors available if need be
- The configuration of the building -- where are the hallways and rooms are
The fire chief told me it is a lot easier to find your way into a burning building if your crew has had a chance to familiarize themselves with the layout of the building on the way to the fire.
An issue in a recent fire in a local barn was how deep the farrowing room pits were. There were no diagrams and the only guy on the fire crew that had any knowledge of barns remembered his uncle had 8-foot deep pits. So the whole crew was working around and on guard not to fall into what they thought was these deep gaseous pits that were a foot and a half from being full. In actual fact the pits were 2 feet deep, and just about empty.
Bottom line, have a plan for emergencies and train and test your staff on that plan so that when disaster strikes you will not be wishing you had taken the extra time to make a plan.
DNL Farms Ltd. is a consulting company from White Fox Saskatchewan that focuses on staff training. After completing their degrees in Agriculture, brief careers in industry and 20 years in the pig business, the principals, Don & Nancy Lidster have produced numerous training videos for their clientele as well as done extensive work with low stress pig handling. They can be contacted at dnlfarms@xplornet.com or (306) 276-5761.
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