AHCPRK311 — Care for health and welfare of pigs

Elements & performance criteria

Performance evidence

• An individual demonstrating competency must satisfy all of the elements and performance criteria in this unit.
• There must be evidence that the individual has safely and effectively cared for at least four different groups of pigs over a period of at least five days. Each group must include at least three pigs. For each group, the individual must have:
• • identified at least two health and safety hazards, and assessed and controlled associated risks
• • selected, checked and correctly fitted appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)
• • used safe and low stress animal handling techniques
• • maintained feed and water availability
• • maintained pig environments, including:
• • cleaned feeding and watering equipment
• • identified and reported signs of pest and/or predator activity
• • disposed of waste materials according to environmental requirements
• • monitored and reported basic pig health, and identified signs of:
• • ill health, injury or distress
• • abnormal or depressed appetite
• • non-routine behaviour.
• The individual must also have treated at least five different pigs as directed, including:
• • used appropriate techniques and location to administer treatments
• • safely handled and stored materials used for treatments according to enterprise health, safety, environmental and biosecurity requirements
• • documented all treatments provided to pigs according to enterprise requirements.
• In addition to the above, the individual must have removed at least one dead or non-viable pig according to enterprise biosecurity and/or environmental procedures.
• Mandatory workplace requirements
• All performance evidence specified above must be demonstrated in a pork production site.

Knowledge evidence

• An individual must be able to demonstrate the knowledge required to perform the tasks outlined in the elements and performance criteria of this unit. This includes knowledge of:
• • key features of state/territory legislation, regulations and codes of practice for worker health and safety, animal welfare, biosecurity and environment protection that apply to providing health care for pigs
• • enterprise procedures and requirements for worker health and safety, animal welfare, biosecurity and environment protection that apply to providing health care for pigs
• • hazard identification, risk assessment and controls to minimise risks when checking and treating pigs
• • key features of pig anatomy and body functions
• • physical needs of pigs, including food, water, protection from weather, and predators
• • signs of common pig ill heath, diseases and injuries, and detection methods, including:
• • irregular behaviour, including self-isolation, lethargy, loss of appetite and drinking
• • checks including weight and breathing
• • lameness, straight tail, head tilt and body tremors
• • checking skin for red patches, scabs, bleeding, lesions, swelling, and open wounds
• • checking for unusual discharges from eyes, nose and genitalia
• • abnormal faeces
• • safe and low stress techniques for handling and restraining pigs, including injured and ill pigs
• • treatment and prevention of common pig diseases
• • key features and functions of pig hospital pens and quarantine enclosures
• • common types, features, functions and operational checks of enclosures, infrastructure and equipment used to house pigs
• • types, uses, handling, storage and routes of administration of commonly used vaccines, veterinary medicines and chemicals used to treat pigs
• • enterprise requirements, methods and procedures for removing and disposing of waste and debris
• • notifiable diseases, including enterprise procedures for reporting and responding to notifiable diseases
• • zoonoses, including erysipelas, leptospirosis, Japanese encephalitis, worms and influenza
• • regulatory and enterprise documentation, records and reports required for pig health care.

Foundation skills

• Reading: Interpret key information on pig treatment from industry documentation
• Writing: Use industry terminology to record information about pig health
• Numeracy: Estimate and calculate quantity, time, weight, temperature, volume and ratio

Unit content sourced from training.gov.au — © Commonwealth of Australia, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Auditori is not affiliated with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Questions about assessing AHCPRK311