A Need to Improve Working Conditions

Pork producers have identified the indoor environment as one of their highest concerns within the industry, citing it as one of the adverse factors in recruiting and maintaining qualified people to work in swine facilities. Producers frequently name air quality problems as prime causes for high employee turnover in the swine production industry. Clearly, efforts to improve air quality in swine facilities are critical to the future of the pork industry and to the safety of farm owners and employees. Research in the United States, Canada, and Europe has confirmed that people working in pig barns have a much higher risk of developing respiratory diseases than do other types of workers in rural communities. Most sources agree that dust, especially respirable dust which is smaller than 5.0 microns (μm) in diameter, is primarily responsible for these health risks.1, 2, 3, 4, 5 This publication presents emerging technology that could be useful in helping diminish health risks to those employed in the swine industry, thereby contributing to a safer future for farm owners and employees. It describes research done to reduce dust and odor, explains the results of that research, and identifies oil sprinkling rather than oil spraying as a method by which the average swine producer can effectively reduce dust and odor in swine buildings. The material presented here shows that a producer could sprinkle oil on a regular schedule and reduce modified respirable dust by approximately 80% and inhalable dust in the air by approximately 85%. For these improved conditions in an operation marketing 4,000 pigs per year, estimated costs are approximately $1.14 per pig marketed. Of the total cost, 70% is for labor.