Day 112 - 31 Mar 95 - Page 38


     
     1
     2   MR. MORRIS:  In the boning hall you said you did not see any one
     3        else measuring the carcass temperatures; is that right?
     4        A.  No, not while I was there.
     5
     6   Q.   What total hours, if you could think back to that time, can
     7        you think that you spent in the boning hall over that
     8        three-week period?
     9        A.  I am sure that I never spent a whole half an hour
    10        continuous in the boning hall.
    11
    12   Q.   Would it have been something like a quarter of an hour a
    13        day or three times a day?
    14        A.  Several times a day, yes.
    15
    16   Q.   So several times a day you would have spent something like
    17        a quarter of an hour?
    18        A.  Or five minutes depending on what my particular concern
    19        at the time was.
    20
    21   Q.   So over a three-week period you may have spent something
    22        like, if we just say a minimum, something like 15 minutes?
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do not lead her to it because it may be
    25        completely wrong.  I am not going to do arithmetic because
    26        I do not suppose for a moment now you can be precise, but
    27        on a typical day how many flying visits would you make to
    28        the boning room?
    29        A.  Perhaps I could say on average four or five and then
    30        some days it was more.  I often had to go to the boning
    31        hall just to discuss some matter that related to the chill,
    32        for example, with the supervisor who usually was in there.
    33
    34   MR. MORRIS:  So can you work out yourself then if you spent four
    35        or five visits roughly averaging five minutes a time per
    36        day ----
    37        A.  I would not like to do that.
    38
    39   Q.   Did you see anyone filling in forms or making notes of
    40        carcass temperatures in the boning hall when you were
    41        there?
    42        A.  No.
    43
    44   Q.   The carcass temperature file you kept in the OVS office,
    45        can you just explain how that came to be?
    46        A.  Well, after I discovered there was a problem with the
    47        carcass temperatures, that carcasses were coming out of the
    48        chiller too warm, I established a file and designed a form
    49        where I on a daily basis put in the carcass temperatures.
    50        I measured any action that I had taken concerning the 
    51        carcass temperatures.  It is obviously very damning for me 
    52        as well to have a file in my office where I have recorded 
    53        carcass temperatures that are well above the acceptable
    54        ones.  I would always -----
    55
    56   Q.   Does it reflect on your responsibilities?
    57        A.  Well, the OVS is just like the abattoirs; they want to
    58        be able to prove due diligence in case their decisions are
    59        challenged.  So I recorded in that file as well whatever
    60        actions and discussions I had had concerning the carcass

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