Health and Safety in Shearing (PDF 917kb) - WorkSafe Victoria

6.3 Catching pens, gateways and doorsHazard or riskThe physical size of the pens may result inexcessive lifting and dragging if too large, orrestrict movement if it is too small. Shared pensneed to be bigger and therefore the shearer mustdrag the sheep further.Protrusions in the pen, particularly on or nearthe gate, can result in punctures, cuts and bruising.Battens that run across the catching pen allowsheep to gain a foothold, restricting the ease oftipping and dragging and increasing the risk ofback injury to workers.Additionally, rotten or loose battens can result insprains, fractures and wounds from exposed nails.Risk controlWhen constructing new sheds or altering the shedlayout, catching pen dimensions should provide thebest tradeoff between pen-ups and distance of drag.The catching pen dimensions providing the besttradeoff between the minimum number of pen-upsper run and minimum distance to drag the sheepshould be about 2.5 x 2.5 metres, which would holdabout 20–25 fully grown sheep. Typically, moreenergy is spent on catching and moving the sheepfrom the catching pen to the stand than on shearingthe sheep. (See the Ballarat Shearing Shed DesignNotes in Appendix 3)The inside of pens and gates should be examinedfor protrusions before shearing and repairs madeif necessary.Battens should run towards the catching pen gate,enabling the shearer to tip the sheep’s back towardsthe gate more easily, reducing twisting and thedistance it needs to be dragged and reducingfriction during dragging.Before shearing, all battens should be inspected andany loose and/or rotten battens repaired. Generallyall battens must be in sound condition and securelyfixed. Light coming up from under the floor shouldbe blocked out if it is causing problems duringpenning. (See the Ballarat Shearing Shed DesignNotes in Appendix 3)These battens in the catching pen are parallel to thedirection of drag and are in good condition.Note there is no light coming up through the boards.Dragging places strain on the back, arms and legs.Health & Safety in Shearing 11