Open access publications in the SLU publication database

During the past twenty years, Swedish pig production has undergone considerable structural
development. The number of farms has decreased and the herd sizes have increased. The
expansion of the number of animals and the farm production has involved a need to employ
more workers. A larger focus on a good work environment on the farms has become an
important issue in order to attract competent livestock workers.
The department of Work Science, Business Economics & Environmental Psychology (AEM) at
the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Alnarp (former part of the Department
of Agricultural Biosystems and Technology), conducted a study during 2002-2004 focusing on
the physical and psychosocial work environment on ten large pig farms.
The purpose of the study was to show what is needed of a large-scale production system
regarding technical solutions, work environment, work organization, leadership and the
individual, in order for workers irrespectively of age, gender, physical and mental capacity to be
able to work in large-scale pig production, maintain a good health and find the work rewarding
and developing.
The results showed that there were still human health concerns regarding the physical and
chemical work environment. Thirty percent of the livestock workers regularly experienced
discomfort from different factors in their work environment such as the climatic conditions in
the pig barns (e.g. draft and large variation in temperature between different barn sections), loud
noises from squealing pigs, ventilation shafts and the high pressure washer along with high dust
concentrations. Ache, pain and discomfort in the musculoskeletal system was frequently reported
among the livestock workers. In particular, the females more frequently reported
musculoskeletal symptoms in the neck (20 %) and in the shoulders (26 %) compared to their
male colleagues (11 % and 15 %, respectively).
The results also showed that the livestock workers, especially the females, experienced manual
removal of manure, gelding of piglets, artificial insemination, moving and weighing of pigs and
periodic cleaning of barn sections with a high pressure washer as physical hard work. Besides
being physical strainfull and time consuming to manually remove manure in the pig barns, the
livestock workers also regarded this work task as boring and ‘meaningless’.
In general, the livestock workers in this study rated their psychosocial work environment better
compared to a similar study conducted among livestock workers in large-scale dairy production.
The livestock worker in this study felt that they had a large degree of influence and possibilities
for personal development in their work. Furthermore, the livestock workers also rated the
leadership, the support and information they received from their employers higher compared to
the results from the dairy study.
Could large-scale pig production become a future work place for the younger generation? Yes –
there is a good potential for these work places to be attractive for young workers and maybe
especially for female workers. However there are concerns regarding the work environment
which needs to be improved. Workers should be able to work to retirement age without getting
repetitive strain injuries. It is of great importance to be aware of this and continue to improve
the physical as well as the psychosocial work environment if these work places ought to attract
young as well as senior workers, male as well as female workers in the future. Furthermore, it is
important to implement an image in society that working with pigs is a fun, meaningful,
developing and prestigious work and an occupation with possibilities.