Day 112 - 31 Mar 95 - Page 24
1 or vet or, indeed, anybody else who happens to be at that
2 stage of the operation, inspecting meat, to see whether it
3 is in good condition or whether it is diseased or
4 whatever? What is the problem with their using the two
5 sterilization facilities which we can see in front of us,
6 one is a gut room and the other is a splitting saw?
7 A. He would have to walk around the splitting saw. As
8 I said before, at the line speeds that we are using here,
9 they find it very difficult to cope with their work as it
10 is, let alone having to walk ------
11
12 Q. Tell me how high off the ground are the carcasses when they
13 are hanging on the line at this stage?
14 A. I would say about the front feet would come about where
15 your hips are, I would say.
16
17 Q. The front feet?
18 A. Yes.
19
20 Q. Oh, you mean it is hanging upside-down?
21 A. It is hanging upside-down, yes. I am sorry.
22
23 Q. It is all right, it is my fault; I should know that.
24 It is hanging upside-down, and it comes down to my hip?
25 A. About, yes.
26
27 Q. So the rest of it is up there?
28 A. Yes.
29
30 Q. What is the problem with crossing the line to wash one's
31 knife in the sterilization which is by the gut removal man?
32 A. Because you are touching the carcasses when you cross
33 the line.
34
35 Q. But they are not all banged up one against the other, are
36 they?
37 A. They are very close to each other, yes.
38
39 Q. Are they touching?
40 A. At this point they should not be touching. There was a
41 problem because the line speeds are very high all the way
42 along the line at Jarretts, with carcasses touching at
43 different points. We tried to -- this problem had existed
44 obviously before, and while I was there -- I was aware of
45 it and I paid particular attention to it -- while I was
46 there several times we had to stop the stunning at the
47 stunning end because they were stunning carcasses too fast,
48 and the line was filled up and we could not avoid carcasses
49 touching.
50
51 Once the animal are stunned there is a certain need for
52 processing the animals very quickly through the slaughter
53 line because there are statutory requirements for how
54 quickly the animal has to be eviscerated after the
55 stunning. So, obviously, if the stunning -- if they are
56 stunning animals in a very rapid, at a very rapid speed, we
57 do get pile ups during that. This happened several times
58 while I was working there.
59
60 Q. The line cannot go any faster than the time required to
