Day 102 - 13 Mar 95 - Page 53
1 I thought the manual killing came if the bird had not only
2 not been stunned properly but then had not had its neck
3 vessels cut properly?
4 A. That is correct.
5
6 Q. So it could be inadequately stunned?
7 A. Yes.
8
9 Q. But the cutter could have been effective, the manual
10 cutting would not intervene between the two, or have
11 I misunderstood?
12 A. No, I think that is correct, yes.
13
14 Q. The man would not step in, seeing that chicken had not been
15 stunned properly, before it got to the cutting point?
16 A. No, no, that is correct.
17
18 MS. STEEL: There is also a manual cutting emergency procedure?
19 A. Yes. Is that specifically referred to here?
20
21 Q. Yes, it is on page 90 -- "emergency breakdown", sorry.
22 A. Yes, that would be if the -- if the neck cutter breaks
23 down, that procedure could be used for a short time but,
24 essentially, the line would have to be stopped.
25
26 Q. How often does that happen?
27 A. Well, the line gets stopped if there is a breakdown and
28 it does not happen very often, but there is a provision to
29 stop it if for any reason any of the equipment does break
30 down.
31
32 Q. When you are talking about "not very often", what is this,
33 once a fortnight, once every month or what?
34 A. I should think it is more likely once a month. It is
35 fairly infrequent anyway.
36
37 Q. If the equipment does break down, you would expect
38 employees to kill up to 1,300 birds per hour each person;
39 is that correct?
40 A. Does that say that there?
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, in (2) in the middle column in the box.
43 A. Yes, I see. I have actually not, although that is a
44 written procedure, I have never seen it in operation, so
45 I would think that is pretty rare for that to have to
46 happen.
47
48 MS. STEEL: That would be by decapitation, would it?
49 A. Yes, it is.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can you give me an impression of how long the
52 line is likely to be stopped for before the automatic
53 system comes in?
54 A. Well, the line would be stopped because of any
55 breakdown, if the sort of the automatic equipment had to be
56 repaired, then -- I mean, I have known breakdowns where the
57 line has had to be stopped for several hours in which case
58 the whole killing operation has to be stopped and -----
59
60 Q. I understand that, but what I am trying to get the feel of
