How To Safely Pick Up Chicks

How To Safely Pick Up Chicks – spot the hazards

By colourful veteran safety crusader, Barry Spud.

When I received the email with this subject line I almost didn’t bother opening it. I have never had a problem with the ladies. We all know that women want a man with a good sense of safety, one who can buy them expensive engineering controls, who wears appropriate PPE, knows his way around The Act, has a big clipboard and can commit to avoiding risk! The women I work with do not even bother to attend my safety training sessions anymore as they say it relaxes them way too much and besides they know I am always there to protect them and tell them how to be safe.

Ask Mrs Spud….every morning as I proceed carefully out the door I always tell her to choose safety as it is my No1 priority and of course I always tell her how much I zero hate her! She refrains from kissing me goodbye as I have instructed her on how unhealthy this can be if a risk assessment, or at least a Take 5, has not been carried out prior. Not sure why I am so hen-pecked but?

Anyway, when I cracked open the email I was horrified, outraged even. Firstly, how dare anybody try and beat up safety with humour. Safety is no yolk! Secondly, the process illustrated is completely wrong and totally unsafe – certainly no way to achieve zero harm, particularly since zero is a duck!. I would not expect a lay person to know these things but I know the Act, I know safety and I spent over an hour learning about safely working with animals as part of attaining my Cert IV in Safety Certificate and I keep a breast of things. Let’s talk turkey, here then is my expert response:

This goose is disobeying the golden egg rule of manual hendling – bend the knees! Not only that, regardless of the weight of the object, it must be held close to the body. In this case I would recommend the presence of a second person to not only assist with the load but to keep the immediate area clear and warn others of the risk or in case the chicken attempts to cross the road.
Chickens are known carriers of a range of bacteria and diseases in including salmonella, bird flu and chicken pox. A full range of PPE should be worn including respirator, hard hat, goggles, gloves and steel capped boots.
Has anybody checked if this person has an egg allergy? Chickens are directly related to the egg family and appropriate allergy testing should be undertaken and epi pens made available. BTW – the egg came first! However, being a Rooster I really don’t care.
Biosecurity is critical. A permit to handle chicks needs to be issued and signed off at the completion we do not wish to fall fowl of quarantine laws.
They need to hatch a lifting plan, particularly since this person has no hands
Elimination and engineering controls must be considered for this task before we scramble off and go running around like headless chickens.
Let us not forget the chicken itself and the importance of wearing hi-viz clothing