Day 094 - 01 Mar 95 - Page 62


     
     1        plant, quality control people or whoever?
     2        A.  Absolutely not.  The inspectors on the plant are
     3        untouchable.  You cannot intimidate them.  They have every
     4        legal support there is.  Their position, they work for the
     5        government, they have nothing to do with the plant.  They
     6        have a responsibility to ensure food safety.  I have never
     7        seen or hear of anybody intimidate an inspector.
     8
     9   Q.   What about the ones that are company inspectors, say they
    10        were being intimidated by their supervisors?
    11        A.  No.  What I have seen ----
    12
    13   Q.   Have you heard of that?
    14        A.  --- is the QA department, I do not know about companies
    15        who do not work this way -- the QA department do not report
    16        directly to the supervisors.  To avoid that conflict of
    17        interest they report directly to management, to a high
    18        level of management.  That is the way it is set up in most
    19        companies that I am aware of.  Are there any discussions
    20        between the QA departments or personnel and those of the
    21        supervisors?  Yes, there is.  There are differences of
    22        opinion.  You also have to keep in mind that the Quality
    23        Assurance Department, especially in this particular
    24        location, have higher standards than those of the
    25        inspector.  If the QA staff reject a piece of meat or a
    26        lot, it is because they have stringent specifications than
    27        those required by the USDA.
    28
    29   Q.   So there could be a conflict of interest between the QA
    30        department and the supervisors?
    31        A.  There could be.
    32
    33   Q.   Management?
    34        A.  No.  It is set up to avoid that.  Do they have
    35        discussions about whether or not they should release a
    36        particular beef?  Yes, they do.
    37
    38   Q.   So it would not always be up to the QA department; it could
    39        be up to the managers and the supervisors?
    40        A.  It is usually in the plant where I have worked we say
    41        the QA has the upper hand.  That is their responsibility.
    42        Those are the ones who make the definable decisions.
    43
    44   Q.   You say "usually" but that is not always the case?
    45        A.  I do not know about the plants where I am not a part of
    46        that.  I do not know, so I cannot make a statement to say
    47        that is always the case.
    48
    49   MR. MORRIS:  When you say the QA report to management rather
    50        than supervisors, it is recognised that there is a conflict 
    51        of interest between the supervisors who want to keep things 
    52        moving as quickly as possible and efficiently and the 
    53        person who wants to stop the meat if it is contaminated or
    54        whatever?
    55        A.  It is not recognised that there is.  What it is
    56        recognised is to avoid that, to prevent that.
    57
    58   Q.   Why should there be a conflict of interest then
    59        between ----
    60

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