Better Pork - October 2016

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EMERGENCYPLANNING
plans for shelters and evacuations, as
well as guidance on how to make an
emergency plan and prepare a farm
emergency kit.
Guidelines specify that it’s impor-
tant to have emergency supplies in
one location, or at least in locations
that are known by all relevant per-
sonnel. Check and update the con-
tents regularly. Lists should be made
of all animals, locations, records
of feeding, vaccinations and tests.
A basic first-aid kit as described in
the federal government’s brochure
should be available, too.
The OSCIA’s emergency plan, as
well as the Canadian government’s
guidelines, are just two sources avail-
able to Ontario farmers to help them
create their own on-farm emer-
gency plan. In fact, if you look hard
enough, there is no shortage of plans
available, including those from pro-
vincial and U.S. state governments.
Fitzgerald commends the avail-
ability of all of those examples. But
there’s a drawback, she says. All
of the plans “have their relative
strengths, and their specific points
of focus. But is there one compre-
hensive plan that covers all areas of
emergency preparedness?
“Probably not.”
However, Fitzgerald also points
out that the lack of regulatory re-
quirements, as well as fully compre-
hensive emergency-plan packages,
means that individuals farmers are
free to tailor all resources available to
their own situations. “That’s a very
important point,” she says. “In the
end, a good on-farm emergency plan
is one that you can call your own.”
Another resource available to all
pork producers is the Prairie Swine
Centre in Saskatoon, which pro-
vides various resources to the pork
industry including information on
emergency preparedness. Lee Whit-
tington, the Swine Centre’s president
and CEO, says in an email response,
“We recommend orientation and
proper training of staff through SOP
(standard operating procedure) re-
view to ensure that all safety instruc-
tions are used for all equipment,
machinery and tools.”
Whittington also provides other
guidelines that pork farmers should
keep in mind regarding emer-
gency planning. Guidelines include:
standard operating procedures for
hearing protection and use of masks
The federal government recommends
making a basic first aid kit available.