Feedlot / Cattle Yard Operations SWMS

Feedlot and cattle yard operations expose workers to a complex mix of biological, mechanical and environmental hazards across pen riding, ration mixing, drafting, weighing and pen maintenance tasks. Workers routinely interact with large unpredictable livestock weighing 400-700kg, operate feed mixer wagons and front-end loaders, and are exposed to organic dust loadings that frequently exceed workplace exposure standards. Under WHS Regulation 2011 r291 and the corresponding state regulations, work involving powered mobile plant, the risk of being trapped or crushed by livestock, and exposure to respirable dust constitutes High Risk Construction Work or High Risk Work requiring a documented Safe Work Method Statement before commencement. A SWMS is mandatory because these tasks combine multiple section 291 HRCW triggers — plant operation, confined animal handling and hazardous dust — and PCBUs must demonstrate hazard identification, hierarchy-of-control application and worker consultation prior to each shift. This template provides the documented framework required by inspectors and principal contractors during feedlot audits.

Hazards identified

7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.

1. 1Elimination — Replace direct human pen entry with remote camera monitoring and automated weigh-draft systems where capital allows, removing worker-livestock proximity entirely during routine inspection cycles.
2. 2Elimination — Schedule feed-out and pen cleaning when pens are empty or stock relocated, eliminating simultaneous human-livestock-plant interaction during high-risk movement windows.
3. 3Substitution — Replace open-cab utility vehicles with ROPS-certified enclosed cab side-by-sides featuring filtered HVAC meeting AS/NZS 1716 P2 equivalent cabin pressurisation for dust exposure reduction.
4. 4Substitution — Use low-dust pelletised or steam-flaked rations in place of dry milled grain blends to reduce respirable particulate generation during mixing and delivery.
5. 5Engineering — Install Bud Box or curved race designs per Temple Grandin specifications with man-gates every 6 metres, sheeted lower rails and non-slip concrete floors to AS 3996.
6. 6Engineering — Fit mixer wagons with auger interlocks, PTO master shields and isolation lockout points compliant with AS 4024.1 machinery safety standards before any access.
7. 7Administrative — Conduct documented pre-start SWMS toolbox briefing each shift covering livestock temperament, plant servicing status, weather/heat index and zoonotic vaccination currency including Q fever screening per ATAGI guidance.
8. 8Administrative — Implement two-person rule for crush and race work, radio check-ins every 30 minutes for solo pen riders, and rotation schedules limiting continuous dust exposure to four hours.
9. 9PPE — Provide P2 respirators meeting AS/NZS 1716 with fit-testing per AS/NZS 1715 for all dust-generating tasks, with powered air-purifying respirators for prolonged mixing operations.
10. 10PPE — Issue steel-capped riding boots to AS/NZS 2210.3, impact-rated chaps, high-visibility long-sleeve shirts, broad-brim hard hats for mounted work, and nitrile gloves for treatment tasks.

Applicable Codes of Practice

Worked example

At a 15,000-head commercial feedlot in a regional grain belt, the yard supervisor convenes the 5:30am pre-start brief at the crush before the day's induction draft of 240 newly-arrived feeder steers. She projects the Feedlot Operations SWMS on the smoko-room screen and walks through each hazard line: cattle temperament flagged as elevated (unsettled stock off transport), forecast 34°C maximum triggering heat stress controls, and overnight rain creating slip risk on the race concrete. The team identifies that the curved race man-gates are clear, the hydraulic crush has been serviced, and two riders confirm current Q fever vaccination on the SWMS sign-on register. P2 respirators are fit-checked before pen riding commences. Mid-morning, a pen rider radios that a steer has gone down in the receival pen with suspected bloat. The supervisor pauses work, returns to the SWMS, and reviews the downed-animal control sequence: clear other stock from the pen, two-person entry with a backstop person at the man-gate, and loader on standby outside the rail rather than entering. The intervention proceeds without incident. At shift end, the SWMS is annotated with the heat stress rotation actually used and the bloat intervention logged, then countersigned by the supervisor for the records system.

Related legislation

• WHS Act 2011 (model)
• WHS Regulation 2025
• AS 2550 — Cranes, hoists and winches; AS 1418 series

Frequently asked questions