Day 104 - 15 Mar 95 - Page 29
1 A. Yes.
2
3 Q. The grades in this case seem to be a little better because
4 there is only one E ---
5 A. Yes.
6
7 Q. -- under "Boning hall" and none on the succeeding page,
8 though there are a couple of Ds. Looking at those overall,
9 we go then into May. Again, my Lord, we go through to the
10 end of November at pages 86, 87.
11
12 Looking at those results overall for that period of time,
13 how do they measure up, so far as you are concerned, in
14 terms of food safety for human consumption?
15 A. They indicate that the plant is perfectly satisfactory
16 from the point of view of handling fresh meat.
17
18 Q. Can you go over, please, to page 12 of your statement?
19 Here we find she says -- at the top of page 12 -- "There
20 was no proper separation between the 'dirty' and 'clean'
21 side of the slaughter leading to considerable risk from
22 airborne contamination of the dressed carcasses". What
23 comment do you have to make about that?
24 A. First that, in my opinion, there is perfectly adequate
25 separation between the "clean" and "dirty" sections of the
26 operation. This is a question of building design. The
27 abattoir is designed correctly from this point of view.
28
29 Q. Would you fish out your plan, please, and open it up and
30 tell us by reference to the plan where the separation is,
31 if indeed it is there, to be seen by reference to the plan?
32 A. A site plan would illustrate more clearly, but it is
33 perfectly straightforward to describe how the separation --
34 the dirty side of the building is approached by a different
35 road which divides off at the entrance to the plant, and
36 all the animals turn right, as it were, and go to the back,
37 or the dirty side of the building, and all by-products and
38 lairage contents also come out through that route. I am
39 describing the site.
40
41 Q. Yes. Here on our plan we see the place where the cattle
42 come in.
43 A. Yes.
44
45 Q. We then see various operations, including horn cutter and
46 so on. Then we see dehiding?
47 A. Yes.
48
49 Q. And a room or area marked "hide skin" ---
50 A. That is it.
51
52 Q. -- with a hatch. What happens there?
53 A. The hide and skins are stored.
54
55 Q. Is that a chute?
56 A. Yes, the dehiding machine actually raises the height to
57 some 16 or 18 feet. It pulls it in an upward direction and
58 conveys it directly out of the slaughter hall into the hide
59 room.
60
