You can carry disease on your clothes and boots, hands, hair and even in your throat.  You can therefore take positive action to protect your animals from these risks. This may include provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and facilities for those visiting and working on your farm.

• Facilities
• Overalls
• Boots
• Disposable gloves
• Hand Washing

Remember that some animal diseases may also be transferred to people so these measures also protect you, your farm staff and visitors.

 

Facilities

To promote positive hygiene standards on your farm, it is important that you provide adequate facilities where everyone on farm can access them easily.  These should be located at appropriate sites around your farm, in particular next to animal handling areas, and should include the following.

Hand washing facilities:

• hot running water
• permanent sinks
• liquid soap
• paper towels

Facilities for cleaning and disinfection:

• hoses or pressure washers
• brushes and buckets
• disinfectant supplies with clear instructions for use
• disinfectant footbaths, where appropriate

Depending upon the disease status of your animals, you may have to provide:

• showers
• clean overalls and boots
• disinfectant footbaths placed at the entrance to your farm and at entrances to areas where vulnerable or high risk animals are kept

 

Overalls

In general

• Keep a set of overalls for use on each of your farms.
• Keep a set of overalls for visitors, if visiting animal accommodation.
• You may require additional changes of overalls for use within your farm.
• Waterproof overalls are practical as they are easy to clean and disinfect.

Always change your overalls:

• when moving between different animal areas
• before tending vulnerable animals, for example those giving birth and newborn animals
• after tending sick and quarantined animals

When visiting a market or show

• Wear clean overalls.
• Clean any contamination from your overalls before leaving animal areas.
• Change overalls before going back to your own animals.

It is important to keep fabric overalls free from contamination and laundered after use

• Overalls should be washed separately from all other laundry at the highest temperature suitable for the fabric as per the care label.
• Ironing or tumble drying fabric overalls provides additional heat treatment to help control organisms which can cause disease.
• Use clean containers (for example, plastic bags) for storing and transporting overalls which ensure effective separation from regular laundry.
• Ensure all overalls are kept separate from all other laundry before, during and after laundering.

 

Boots

In general

• Clean and disinfect your boots between work on each of your farms.
• You may require to clean and disinfect your boots when moving within areas of your farm.
• Wellington boots are practical as they are easy to clean and disinfect.

Always clean and disinfect your boots:

• when moving between different animal areas
• before tending vulnerable animals, for example those giving birth and newborn animals
• after tending sick and quarantined animals

When visiting a market or show

• Wear clean and disinfected boots.
• Clean and disinfect your boots before leaving animal areas.
• Clean and disinfect your boots going back to your own animals.

Many visitors to farms have their own boots 

• Ensure their boots are clean before allowing access to animal areas.
• Have a spare pair of clean Wellington boots available for visitors.

 

Disposable gloves

• The use of disposable gloves can minimise transfer of disease throughout your farm, however their use does not replace hand washing.
• Dispose carefully of gloves after each animal, especially after any internal examination (for example, pregnancy diagnosis or assisted births).

 

Hand washing

Hand washing is an important practice in reducing spread of disease. You can protect the health of your animals by encouraging everyone on your farm, including all visitors, to wash their hands regularly. This is particularly important for those handling animals closely.

You should wash hands frequently as a routine

• Before and after touching animals and their immediate surroundings.
• After exposure to dung or body fluids.
• When moving between groups and types of animals.
• When moving between and within farms and holdings.
• Whenever your hands are visibly soiled or dirty.
• When tending sick animals in isolation or those in quarantine.
• After administering medication.
• Before and after assisting at births and tending neonatal animals.
• Before eating, drinking or smoking.

To make hand washing more effective

• Expose forearms.
• Remove all hand and wrist jewellery.
• Ensure fingernails are clean, short and free from varnish.
• Cover all cuts or abrasions with a waterproof dressing.

Important points

• Hand washing sinks should have both hot and cold running water, as:
  • it is easier to create soap lather with running warm water
  • it will encourage more thorough hand washing, particularly in cold weather
• Provide liquid soap, as soap bars can be dropped on the ground.
• Dry hands thoroughly after hand washing using disposable paper towels.
• Cleansing wipes or antibacterial gels complement, but don't replace proper hand washing.
• In extensive field situations where hand washing is impossible, the use of cleansing wipes, antibacterial gels and disposable gloves can help to control disease.