Mobile and stationary systems for organic pigs - working environment

Summary

This paper presents parts of the results from a work whose objectives were to investigate how well two organic growing-fattening pig systems fulfil the basic goal of having a safe and healthy working environment and to identify areas where there is a need for development. The work is one component of a large project that aimed to identify strategies for simultaneously reaching a good animal environment, a resource-efficient nutrient management, and a good working environment in outdoor pig systems. The Work Environment Screening Tool in agriculture (WEST-agriculture) was used in the study. The screening of the work environment was carried out in the two systems during different seasons. The results showed that during foddering and watering the risk for accidents and ergonomic load could be much higher in the mobile system than in the stationary system. Some proposals for the improvement of the working environment are discussed in order to obtain valuable information for agricultural advisory services and farmers working in different outdoor pig systems.