Livestock handling risk

The scale of the risk

Cattle kill farm workers and members of the public in Great Britain every year, and injure many more. The animals involved are usually not diseased or wild; they are ordinary stock reacting to being crowded, separated from calves, handled by an unfamiliar person or moved in a hurry.

Two situations dominate the fatalities: routine handling in poor facilities, and cows with calves encountering walkers on a public right of way, often with a dog.

Handling and transport risks overlap constantly, which is why farm vehicle and PTO safety belongs in the same assessment.

Handling facilities

Most handling injuries trace back to the design of the pens and race rather than to the animal. A sound system reduces the need for anybody to be in a confined space with an animal at all.

• A properly sized forcing pen, race and crush that suits the size of stock kept.
• Escape routes at intervals along the race so a handler is never trapped.
• Non slip, well drained floors, because a slip in a pen turns a nudge into a trampling.
• Good lighting and no sharp projections, broken rails or gaps that trap a limb.
• Gates that latch from outside the pen and can be operated one handed.
• Maintenance of the crush, including the yoke and the release mechanism.

Never move stock single-handed without the check-in routine described in lone working arrangements.

Animal behaviour and handling technique

Cattle have near panoramic vision with a blind spot directly behind, they baulk at shadows, changes in floor surface and dark entrances, and they follow the animal in front. Working with those instincts rather than against them removes most of the shouting and pushing that causes incidents.

Keep handling calm and unhurried, never work alone with stock in a confined space where you can avoid it, and never turn your back on a bull. Animals with a history of aggression should be culled: a recorded decision to keep a dangerous animal is difficult to defend after an injury.

Bulls, cows and calves

Bulls of recognised dairy breeds must not be kept in a field crossed by a public right of way. Other bulls may be, provided they are with cows or heifers, but the assessment should consider whether that is wise on a well used path.

Cows with calves are the highest risk group for the public. Where possible, keep them out of fields with public access. Where that is not possible, provide clear signage, keep the path clear and unobstructed, consider fencing a corridor, and move stock if incidents occur. Advice to walkers to release their dog if chased should be on the signage, since most injuries to walkers happen when cattle chase a dog and the owner holds on to the lead.

Zoonoses and health

Diseases transmissible from animals to people are covered by COSHH 2002 as biological agents. The common ones in UK agriculture are E. coli O157, cryptosporidiosis, leptospirosis, ringworm, orf and Q fever.

Controls are practical: hand washing facilities at the point of handling, no eating or smoking in animal areas, gloves for calving and lambing, covering cuts, immediate washing after contact with urine or afterbirth, and telling a doctor about the occupational contact when unwell. Pregnant women should not handle lambing ewes. Any diagnosed occupational zoonosis is reportable under RIDDOR.

Training, supervision and records

Anyone handling livestock needs instruction in the behaviour of the animals, the operation of the handling system and what to do if something goes wrong. Inexperienced workers, students and contractors such as vets, foot trimmers and AI technicians should be briefed on your system before they start, including where the escape routes are.

Record the handling risk assessment, the training given, any incidents including near misses where somebody was pinned or knocked over, and the culling decisions for aggressive animals. Those records matter because livestock incidents involving the public regularly result in investigation by the local authority or the HSE.

Common questions

Can we keep a bull in a field with a footpath?

Not a bull of a recognised dairy breed. Other bulls may be kept if accompanied by cows or heifers, subject to your risk assessment.

Are we liable if a walker is injured by our cattle?

Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires you to protect people who are not your employees, and civil liability may also arise. Signage alone is rarely enough.

Is lone working with cattle allowed?

It is not prohibited, but the assessment should limit lone handling in confined spaces and require a check-in arrangement.

Related guides

• farm vehicle and PTO safety
• lone working arrangements