Action is at the heart of Farm Safety Week. While recognising the risks is important, real change happens when people take practical steps to make farming and the wider livestock industry safer.
That’s why, for Day 4 of the campaign, we are delighted to hear from Zanna Dennis, MartSafe Trainer, about the Livestock Auctioneers Association’s MartSafe Training Programme. Over the last five years, this specially designed programme has helped drive positive safety improvements in livestock markets, showing what can be achieved when action is turned into practice.
She says: “Since launching in 2021, we’ve delivered more than 180 training sessions to over 4,000 people working in livestock markets across the UK and Ireland. But while those numbers are encouraging, the real success isn’t measured in attendance figures – it’s in the conversations people have afterwards, the changes they make back at their own markets, and the confidence they gain in working safely with livestock.
One of the things I always say at the start of a course is that we’re not here to tell people how to do their jobs. The people in our livestock markets are highly skilled, and many have spent decades handling stock. Our role is to explain the science behind animal behaviour, provide opportunities to reflect on our current practice and give people a few extra tools they can add to their experience.
Often, it’s the small things that make the biggest difference.
Understanding flight zones and balance lines. Knowing when to apply pressure and, just as importantly, when to take it away. Thinking about where your escape route is before entering a pen. These are practical techniques that reduce stress for livestock while making people safer too.
One of the most popular parts of the training is our animal vision exercise. Participants wear specially designed goggles that simulate how cattle and sheep see the world while listening to the sounds of a busy livestock market. It’s a simple exercise, but it completely changes how people think about handling livestock. When you experience how limited an animal’s vision can be, it’s much easier to understand why they hesitate at ramps, baulk at shadows or react unexpectedly.
Every year we rewrite the training programme rather than simply updating it. The livestock industry never stands still, so neither should we. We’ve introduced sessions on mental health awareness, dealing with animal activists, managing escaped livestock, disease risks and much more. Every new topic comes from listening to the people who attend our courses and responding to the challenges they’re facing.
One of the things I am most proud of is that MartSafe brings everyone together. Auctioneers, drovers, office staff and management all learn alongside one another. Safety is everyone’s responsibility, and some of the best ideas come from the discussions we have during the day.
Looking ahead, we’re excited about taking MartSafe beyond the market. Many of the principles we teach apply just as much on farm as they do in the auction ring, and we’re exploring dedicated evening sessions for local farmer groups.
If there’s one message I’d like to leave during Farm Safety Week, it’s that learning never stops. Whether you’ve worked with livestock for six months or sixty years, there’s always something new to understand.
Safer livestock handling isn’t about changing everything you do. Sometimes it’s simply about seeing things from the animal’s perspective.
If you’d like to find out more about MartSafe Training, visit www.laa.co.uk or speak to your local livestock market.
