Day 077 - 25 Jan 95 - Page 60
1 forming machines. At the pack-off the girls are wearing
2 surgical gloves. It is immediately boxed, sealed and put
3 into the cold store. It is not touched with an empty human
4 hand.
5
6 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What else are the girls wearing? Is it
7 terribly cold in there or is the process so quick that you
8 do not get time to heat up?
9 A. The burger process is so quick it has no chance of
10 heating up.
11
12 Q. So they are in a normal bearable temperature. The meat is
13 there insufficiently long to rise above a certain
14 temperature?
15 A. Absolutely right. The temperature they work in is 10
16 degrees which is an EC regulation.
17
18 Q. That is pretty cool, is it not?
19 A. It is cool. When you interview a girl you have to ask
20 her to make sure she wears sensible shoes and warm
21 clothing. That is an EC regulation.
22
23 MR. RAMPTON: Do they have overalls?
24 A. Yes.
25
26 Q. Hats?
27 A. Yes.
28
29 Q. Not hairy hats like this?
30 A. No. They have to wear hair nets and hats.
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But they have to wear really quite a lot of
33 clothing to keep warm?
34 A. Yes, warm clothing, sir, warm clothing, a pullover
35 under their overalls, uniforms.
36
37 Q. It is 50 degrees Fahrenheit?
38 A. Yes.
39
40 Q. That is just a matter of interest.
41
42 MR. RAMPTON: Are the surgical gloves sterilized?
43 A. No, they are disposable.
44
45 Q. They come out of sterile packs?
46 A. They come out of sterile packs.
47
48 Q. Do you run any health checks on your employees to see they
49 are not carriers of unwelcome organisms?
50 A. Every employee, including the office staff, because
51 they sometimes have to go down into the plant, has to be
52 cleared as safe to work in a food plant. That includes
53 stool examination. If anybody goes to the Middle East or
54 the Far East for vacation, they cannot go back into the
55 factory until they are recleared.
56
57 Q. Do you take both fresh and frozen meat into the plant?
58 A. Yes.
59
60 Q. What sort of distance is it possible for fresh meat to
