Application
This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to oversee the handling and, where applicable, the slaughtering of animals by a range of company personnel and/or government inspection staff to meet regulatory requirements.
Ensuring animals are produced, handled and slaughtered humanely is the responsibility of both regulatory authorities and companies. This unit is therefore applicable to meat safety officers, lairage supervisors, Animal Welfare Officers and Quality Assurance (QA) Officers in meat processing establishments, and livestock transport and saleyard staff.
This unit must be delivered in the context of Australian meat industry standards and regulations.
No occupational licensing, legislative or certification requirements are known to apply to this unit at the time of publication.
Elements and Performance Criteria
Element | Performance criteria |
Elements describe the essential outcomes. | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. |
1. Oversee humane handling of animals | 1.1 Identify potential animal welfare risks and existing management procedures 1.2 Identify animal welfare requirements in legislation, regulation and workplace procedures 1.3 Oversee handling of animals in accordance with workplace and regulatory requirements 1.4 Monitor procedures for minimising animal stress and preventing injury |
2. Oversee humane euthanasia or slaughter of animals | 2.1 Oversee effective restraint and stunning (where appropriate), prior to euthanasing or slaughtering of animals to ensure compliance with workplace and regulatory requirements 2.2 Oversee bleeding of animals to ensure compliance with workplace and regulatory requirements 2.3 Oversee monitoring of bleed chain insensibility to ensure compliance with workplace and regulatory requirements |
3. Oversee facilities, equipment and people involved with the handling of animals | 3.1 Oversee facilities, equipment, and people handling and slaughtering animals in accordance with workplace and regulatory requirements 3.2 Monitor data about bruising and hide or pelt damage and take corrective action where appropriate |
4. Handle contingencies | 4.1 Oversee handling of sick or injured stock in accordance with workplace and regulatory requirements 4.2 Oversee handling of wild or uncooperative animals in accordance with workplace and regulatory requirements 4.3 Interpret and implement contingency plans for managing animal welfare |
Evidence of Performance
Evidence must demonstrate the candidate's consistency of performance over time at production speed.
The candidate must:
explain consequences of incorrect animal handling techniques
explain why correct animal handling helps ensure that meat attains an acceptably low ultimate pH
work effectively as an individual and as part of a team
ensure bruising and/or hide or pelt damage due to livestock handling is minimised
ensure stock handlers remain calm and are not injured or put at risk of injury
ensure stress in animals is minimised through correct handling
identify and apply relevant animal welfare and workplace health and safety requirements
monitor the handling of livestock to ensure minimisation of stress
identify sick and injured stock
identify features of effective restraint, stun and bleed and/or oversee humane destruction
monitor bleed chain insensibility
plan stock movement to meet production requirements and minimise stress
use relevant communication skills
Evidence of Knowledge
The candidate must demonstrate a broad factual, technical and theoretical knowledge of:
regulatory and workplace requirements for the humane handling and slaughtering of animals
animal welfare standards and regulations
strategies to minimise stress to livestock
the stunning and bleeding process and/or humane destruction requirements
causes of ineffective stunning and bleeding
regulatory and workplace requirements for monitoring stunning and bleeding
Assessment Conditions
Competency must be demonstrated against the current animal welfare codes and regulations. Assessment must involve handling livestock in working stockyards or slaughtering premises. This may take the form of supervising or auditing livestock handling or slaughtering operations.
A minimum of three different forms of evidence is required to demonstrate competency.
As a minimum, these must include:
quiz of underpinning knowledge
workplace demonstration
workplace referee or third-party report of performance over time.
Assessors must satisfy current standards for RTOs.
Foundation Skills
Foundation Skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit of competency.