Livestock expert, WorkSafe informant give evidence in Midfield Meat trial

Shane Grigg gave evidence on Monday to a jury in the Warrnambool County Court trial against Midfield Meat, which has pleaded not guilty to two charges of failing to provide a safe working environment following an incident in December 2017 when long-time Midfield worker Pat Smith, 49, was killed by a large stag (steer/bull with one testicle) at a farm in Dunkeld.

Mr Grigg said when he attended Warrnambool's Midfield Meat the following month, OH&S manager Barry Crimmin was unable to produce any of the requested documents, including a contract between Midfield and the Dunkeld farm, a job description for Mr Smith's role and any policies or procedures.

On Tuesday, Warrnambool's Dr David Beggs, a livestock expert and cattle veterinarian, said risk assessments would not usually be done in writing as it was about "being in the moment and being able to react to things that are going on in order to remain safe".

He said it was more important to use "situational awareness" than to document something prior to working.

Dr Beggs said situational awareness included keeping a constant lookout and monitoring risks, rather than making an assessment prior to doing something.

"Both are important but the constant monitoring of what is going on is very important when you're dealing with livestock," he said.

Dr Beggs said he believed risks were mitigated by "good stockmanship and good facilities".

After viewing footage of the killer stag taken about an hour after the fatal incident, Dr Beggs said the animal was "obviously very agitated".

But he said an animal that got a fright would usually settle back down quite quickly and for the stag to be "on that level" an hour later was "very unusual".

Dr Beggs said he had seen animals reacting similarly after an incident, such as a snake bite, but that it would never be known if that occurred.

"But I would put (the stag's behaviour) outside the normal range and maybe there's something else going on," he said.

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Dr Beggs said he disagreed with the prosecution case that people shouldn't work alone with animals in an enclosed yard, but agreed it was "preferable".

"I agree that it's not always safe, I strongly disagree that it's never safe," he said.

Dr Beggs said farmers would often work in yards alone and that it was necessary for them to make risk assessments as they go.

He said he didn't believe "what happened, as tragic as it was, was foreseeable", and that it was more likely to be killed on the road than hit by cattle on broadacre farms.

The trial continues.

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