Staff training for persons handling animals intended for slaughter is necessary and its relevance is undisputed. Despite this, there is no legal basis that describes the need of repetitive training for persons with a certificate of competence in this field. Within the meat industry, there is a need for well-developed, easily understandable training materials translated in correspondingly necessary languages, containing descriptive photos and videos which provide ongoing training to the heterogeneous group of employees. Any lack of knowledge could lead to animal welfare violations by employees. Regardless of whether these violations are caused by a lack of knowledge or another cause, there must not be any handling of pigs that is in violation of animal welfare.
Through the survey and data collection of the first publication, it became clear that animal welfare training for employees is usually carried out once a year. Smaller abattoirs were comparatively less satisfied with their training concepts, materials and content. The need for descriptive videos, photos and different target languages became clear, as well as a need for adapted and specific modules depending on the area of work. The desire for practical sessions was also mentioned. It was also stated that online access or carrying out the animal welfare training online-only could be problematic.
The relevance of human-animal interactions, and the management of transport and slaughter, was confirmed by the systematic literature review and potentially training-relevant topics were identified. Mistakes in handling pigs can only be identified and corrected if they are known and recognized by staff. Appropriately prepared and repetitive training courses can help to form this recognition. Existing handouts and after publication the materials from the project "eSchulTS2" (access via https://tetfolio.fu-berlin.de/web/eschults2) are good bases for complex training and, if necessary, management adjustments.
The knowledge testing of the additional, unpublished work showed that participants answered more questions correctly as a percentage after completing the pilot modules "Handling of pigs" and "Electrical stunning". The increase in knowledge, however, varied depending on the topic and previous experience, even for individual questions. Participants with a lower level of education were more likely to have a certificate of competence and thus to work in areas relevant to animal welfare. The influence of language selection remains unclear. Romanian speaking participants had worse results than German speaking participants. We posit that the reason for the worse results in the tests is not the country of origin per se, but rather the factor of the career changing of people from other countries. An increase in knowledge was also observed among participants with a certificate of competence, which confirms the need for repetitive training for all staff.
Overall, the increase in knowledge of the participants in the pre-evaluation showed that the underlying didactic concept for the created E-learning pilot modules in the area of animal welfare training for employees of pig abattoirs is suitable. The transfer and increase in knowledge represent an added value for the protection and animal welfare of pigs intended for slaughter.
Staff training for persons handling animals intended for slaughter is necessary and its relevance is undisputed. Despite this, there is no legal basis that describes the need of repetitive training for persons with a certificate of competence in this field. Within the meat industry, there is a need for well-developed, easily understandable training materials translated in correspondingly necessary languages, containing descriptive photos and videos which provide ongoing training to the heterogeneous group of employees. Any lack of knowledge could lead to animal welfare violations by employees. Regardless of whether these violations are caused by a lack of knowledge or another cause, there must not be any handling of pigs that is in violation of animal welfare.
Through the survey and data collection of the first publication, it became clear that animal welfare training for employees is usually carried out once a year. Smaller abattoirs were comparatively less satisfied with their training concepts, materials and content. The need for descriptive videos, photos and different target languages became clear, as well as a need for adapted and specific modules depending on the area of work. The desire for practical sessions was also mentioned. It was also stated that online access or carrying out the animal welfare training online-only could be problematic.
The relevance of human-animal interactions, and the management of transport and slaughter, was confirmed by the systematic literature review and potentially training-relevant topics were identified. Mistakes in handling pigs can only be identified and corrected if they are known and recognized by staff. Appropriately prepared and repetitive training courses can help to form this recognition. Existing handouts and after publication the materials from the project "eSchulTS2" (access via https://tetfolio.fu-berlin.de/web/eschults2) are good bases for complex training and, if necessary, management adjustments.
The knowledge testing of the additional, unpublished work showed that participants answered more questions correctly as a percentage after completing the pilot modules "Handling of pigs" and "Electrical stunning". The increase in knowledge, however, varied depending on the topic and previous experience, even for individual questions. Participants with a lower level of education were more likely to have a certificate of competence and thus to work in areas relevant to animal welfare. The influence of language selection remains unclear. Romanian speaking participants had worse results than German speaking participants. We posit that the reason for the worse results in the tests is not the country of origin per se, but rather the factor of the career changing of people from other countries. An increase in knowledge was also observed among participants with a certificate of competence, which confirms the need for repetitive training for all staff.
Overall, the increase in knowledge of the participants in the pre-evaluation showed that the underlying didactic concept for the created E-learning pilot modules in the area of animal welfare training for employees of pig abattoirs is suitable. The transfer and increase in knowledge represent an added value for the protection and animal welfare of pigs intended for slaughter.
