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Grower Accreditation Criteria

Section 1: Facilities Required

1.1 Maintenance

Requirement

All the equipment provided for shearing, wool handling and pressing must be clean and adequately maintained.

This equipment may include, but is not limited to, shearing plant, grinder, wool press and wool table.

1.2 Safety

1.2.1 Occupational Safety & Health Act

Requirement

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act the woolshed and its surrounds must be made a safe environment in which to work.

Recommendation

Growers should take all practical steps needed to ensure they comply with the Act.

Booklets on the Act and how it applies to farm workplaces are available free of charge from the Occupational Safety and Health Service of the Department of Labour. A comprehensive manual on the topic is also available for a fee from Federated Farmers.

These publications will help you identify and fix potential hazards, and to minimise any potential legal liability.

Some typical safety requirements which growers may consider appropriate for their woolshed are:

  • No children should be allowed in the shed unless they are under the direct supervision of a person who is not involved in shearing or wool handling.
  • All broken or weakened floorboards, gratings, stairs or ramps should be repaired or replaced before shearing and whenever they occur.
  • Safety goggles or glasses should be provided for shearers using the grinder(s).

Note: you are responsible for the safety and behaviour of your contractor’s employees as well as for your own workers. In other words, if you see a contractor’s employee doing something dangerous, you have a legal duty to stop them.

1.2.2 Spline Drives

Recommendation

It is strongly recommended that all shearing plants have a spline drive short gut. This is an important safety measure to minimise the risk of injury from handpiece lockups.

1.3 Health & Good Employment Practice

Recommendation

Hand washing facilities and a clean operating toilet should be provided. Clean drinking water is essential for employee health and is a requirement under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Supply tanks should be checked before shearing begins, to ensure they are free of contamination.

1.4 Notice Board

Requirement

There must be a notice board located in a prominent position in the wool room. This will be used to inform staff and contractors of the …

  • Clip preparation requirements
  • Classes of Sheep, Number in Each Mob & Mob Order

1.5 Wool Shed Lighting

Requirement

The woolshed must have good, consistent light in the wool handling areas. Natural light cannot be relied upon at all times of the working day and must be supplemented with artificial lighting.

1.5.1 Lighting Levels

The type of light must be in the daylight range with a colour rendering index of at least 85. All tubes must be 1.5 m long and fitted in pairs with clean reflectors.

The objective is a minimum light level of 400 lux at all times in the wool handling areas.

For advice on suitable tubes please contact Meat & Wool Innovation.

1.5.2 Light Placement

To achieve the required lighting level, lights must be installed over all wool handling areas. These include the shearing board in all cases and the table or blending heap, whichever is appropriate.

Wool table

Lights with double 1.5 m tubes placed lengthwise 1.4 m above the centre of the table

Blend heap

Lights with double 1.5 m tubes placed 2.2 m above the floor over the centre of the blend heap

Shearing board

Lights placed 2.2 m above the shearing board in the following arrangements:

1.6 Containers

1.6.1 Bins and Fadge Holders

Requirement

There must be enough bins and fadge holders in the woolshed to allow staff to make the required number of fleece and oddment lines. This includes separate bins for main fleece lines and key oddments, along with separate containers when required for:

  • Dags
  • Urine Stains (must be labelled)
  • Black Wool (must be labelled)
  • Skin Pieces
  • Raddles

Acceptable containers for oddment lines are wool packs, solid plastic containers, cardboard boxes, plastic drench containers, drums and baskets. Sacks and bags, such as fertiliser bags must not be used for this purpose.

1.6.2 Fadge Fastening Devices

Requirement

All the hooks, pins, clips or nails used to hold fadges in position must be permanently attached. This is to prevent them from falling into the wool and later causing expensive damage to mill machinery.

1.7 Wool Table

If full wool sheep are to be shorn, the fleece wool is best skirted on a wool table.

Recommendation

A maximum of 1000 fleeces per wool table can normally be handled in a 9 hour day. If the shearing rate exceeds this an extra table(s) should be installed.

There are a range of shapes available, but the minimum size table surface area is 1.2 m x 2.4 m (or 2 m in diameter for round tables).

Links

Occupational Safety and Health Service www.osh.govt.nz/order/catalogue/index.shtml
Federated Farmers www.fedfarm.org.nz/

Section 2 – Preventing Contamination

 

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