The Human Resources and Training Coordinator with Manitoba Pork says there are resources available to help swine barn workers cope with the stresses involved in dealing with the devastation caused by Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea.
More than 50 Manitoba swine farms have been confirmed infected with Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea since the end of April.
Janice Goldsborough, the Human Resources and Training Coordinator with Manitoba Pork, says changes in routine designed to reduce the treat of infection cause added pressure and, for those dealing with infected pigs, especially in the nursery barns, the stress can be particularly intense.
I know our larger operations, such as Maple Leaf, they’ve been excellent at ensuring that their employees out at the barn level have received access to employee assistance programs, to counseling services if they’re required.
I here in the office am looking at creating a one pager for the employees that, if they need help, if they’re feeling distressed, if they’re feeling uncomfortable, if they’re suffering from the emotional trauma of what’s going on that there’s help out there to help them.
In our internal paper called Chop Talk that goes out to all of our producers, I’ve put in some mental health tips to help the employees and where they can reach out to if they need help because they’re not alone and we want to make sure that they know there’s resources out there to help them.
We’ve also reached out to organizations such as Klinic, the Manitoba Farm and Rural Support Services as well as Mental Health Manitoba just to make sure that we’re getting good advice and we’re accessing their resources to see if there’s anything else that we can do to help our employees to make sure that they have supports available.
~ Janice Goldsborough-Manitoba Pork
Goldsborough encourages anyone who is struggling to reach out for support, surround yourself with those you trust who can provide support, get plenty of rest and maintain proper nutrition.
