Australian National Farm Biosecurity Manual: Poultry Production/Personnel Standards and Procedures
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Personnel:
Objective:
To minimise the risk of introducing or spreading a disease or contaminant through people movement:
- including staff (including production personnel and company service personnel)
- contractors, suppliers and other service personnel
- visitors and family members
and to document such movements to facilitate tracing in case of a concern
Production personnel
Objective:
To minimise the risk of introduction of disease or contaminants by production personnel
- Production area personnel or any person residing on the property must not have contact with any other poultry, cage birds, racing pigeons or pigs unless they have a complete head-to-toe shower and change into new protective footwear and clothing prior to entering the production area (see Appendix 1: Personnel Quarantine Declaration).
- Production area personnel must wear laundered clean clothes each day at the commencement of their work. Personnel must ensure that they do not become
contaminated by contact with avian species or pigs on their way to work. It is critical that boots worn in sheds are not worn or taken outside the production area. They are the most likely method for disease spread by personnel.
Company service personnel
Objective:
To minimise the risk of introduction of disease or contaminants by company service personnel
- Company service personnel by necessity make multiple production area visits on a single day. Protective clothing and footwear, as approved by the production facility manager, should be worn in the production area. Hands must be sanitised before entering sheds.
- Visits should always be made from ‘clean’ areas i.e. home, younger or healthy production area. In an emergency, visits may be made from production areas with lower standards of biosecurity after a shower and complete change of clothing.
Repair and maintenance
Objective:
To minimise the risk of introduction of disease or contaminants by contractors carrying out maintenance and repair work
- Repair and maintenance contractors who have had contact with poultry or other birds that day or keep birds at their home must not enter sheds and/or ranges populated or ready to be populated with birds unless (a) it is an emergency and (b) they have showered from head-to-toe and changed clothes and boots and wear a hair covering.
- Routine maintenance should be conducted, where possible, between batches prior to final disinfection where a batch system is practiced.
- Tools taken into the production area must be cleaned before entry into sheds and must be free of dust and organic matter.
Contractors, suppliers, other service personnel and visitors
Objective:
To minimise the risk of introduction of disease or contaminants by contractors,suppliers, service personnel and visitors
- Conditions of entry to poultry sheds and poultry ranges—all personnel (other than those farm personnel covered by the Personnel Quarantine Declaration (Appendix 1)) must agree to comply with the entry conditions as stipulated in Appendix 2A (which must be displayed prominently near the visitors’ log) by signing the visitors’ log and such visits must be approved by the manager before visitors may enter sheds and ranges. This requirement also applies to vaccination crews.
- Visitors’ log—a record must be kept of all visitors (non-production area staff) to the poultry sheds and poultry ranges including company personnel (see Appendix 2B regarding details to be recorded and a possible format).
- Any authorised visitor, including neighbours, friends, other producers or equipment suppliers, likely to have been exposed that day to poultry, other birds or pigs must not enter the sheds unless they have had a head-to-toe shower and changed clothes and boots or must limit their visit to the property’s residence while wearing clean clothes.
- All visitors should park their vehicles outside the production area unless it is essential that the vehicle be taken on site e.g. some maintenance contractors. Visitors entering sheds or ranges must complete and sign the visitors’ log (see Appendix 2B).
Requirements for specified movements
Objective:
To minimise the risk of introduction of disease or contaminants by specified movements
- Pick up of poultry—pick-up crews should work from youngest to oldest or all young birds or all old birds on a shift basis in accordance with the processing company’s pick-up biosecurity procedures. Pick-up crews must not keep birds at their home.
- Day-old chick delivery—trucks and dollies must be cleaned and disinfected each day and between properties not owned/operated by the same entity. Drivers must sanitise their hands and boots before and after each delivery to a production area.
- Litter delivery and collection of used litter—trucks carrying new or old litter must be cleaned and disinfected between production areas.
- Other deliveries (e.g. gas and feed drivers)—drivers must not enter sheds and thus are not required to sign the visitors’ log.
- There must be a system for tracing movements of delivery personnel (e.g. through delivery dockets and feed company records).
Entry procedures for bird sheds and ranges
Objective:
To prevent the introduction of disease agents and contaminants into bird sheds and ranges through people movements
Any person entering sheds must sanitise hands and use footbaths (unless separate shed boots are being used) before entering each shed.
- Soles of boots must be scraped before disinfecting in the footbaths.
- A hand sanitiser must be available at all shed entrances and must be used before entering.
- Facilities should be available for the cleaning and disinfection of equipment before entry.
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