Day 112 - 31 Mar 95 - Page 23
1
2 Q. Would he be fingering the meat then?
3 A. Yes -- well, no, he would not be fingering the meat but
4 there is a risk for contamination in general in ------
5
6 Q. Tell me how it occurs.
7 A. Pardon?
8
9 Q. How does it occur if he does not touch the meat?
10 A. He uses knives that he uses throughout the day. He
11 does not stand there all day. He moves -- the meat
12 inspectors are moved every 45 minutes about from different
13 job to another because the monotony of the work causes them
14 to be less ----
15
16 Q. Observant?
17 A. -- observant, so we change their positions very often.
18 If they do not sterilize their knives throughout the day --
19 I understand Mr. Bennett explained that -- those are the
20 only witness' evidence that I have seen -- Mr. Bennett
21 explained very carefully the difference between actual
22 sterilization, scientific sterilization, and the
23 disinfection that we actually do when we talk about
24 sterilization in the abattoir, we are not sterilization --
25 we are bringing down the contamination level so to keep
26 them at acceptable levels.
27
28 Q. We understand that. I do not mind which word; which word
29 do you prefer, "disinfection" or "sterilization"?
30 A. Well, I prefer sterilization because that is the
31 professional jargon.
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is what everyone uses. I have taken
34 the point that it does not actually mean sterilization.
35 A. I just wanted to point that out because, in this
36 particular case, there is a risk of massive contamination.
37 He is dealing with the gut and he is incising gut lymph
38 nodes, if need be, during his work, and then he is
39 disinfecting his knife that has a massive contamination and
40 that is ------
41
42 Q. He is or he is not?
43 A. He is not while working there for 45 minutes because he
44 has no access to a sterilizer.
45
46 Q. I am afraid I am not following.
47
48 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Could you just pause a moment, Mr. Rampton?
49 Is the point you are making that there should be
50 sterilization in the true sense?
51 A. No, that is not my point. My point is that at every
52 point where the knives are used in the abattoir, because
53 those same knives can be used at other -- it is impossible
54 to supervise the situation so that those knives are not
55 used for some other purpose. So, there should be, when the
56 knives are used in the abattoir, there should be constant
57 decontamination by sterilization, as we see it there, to
58 avoid build up of extreme contamination.
59
60 MR. RAMPTON: What is the problem with the meat inspector or the
