Day 217 - 09 02 96 - Page 31

 
 

                                                                  DAY 217
 
                                                     MRS. HOVI, Examined:
 
 
 
     1        this, in my opinion, in spite of the fact that daily
     2        through put would have allowed a slower through put,
     3        because of poor floor management, the slaughtermen tended
     4        to work as fast as they could as soon as there was cattle
     5        in the lairage that they were allowed to put through that
     6        had been inspected; they would work as fast as they could
     7        to clear off that cattle, because then they could have a
     8        break.  This is obviously a very bad practice, and this
     9        happens at slaughterhouses if the floor management is
    10        poor.
    11
    12        I, personally, had to stand often at the stunning point and
    13        stop the stunner from stunning more carcasses, because the
    14        line was overcrowded; the line speed was being pushed up
    15        because of the fast stunning.
    16
    17   MR. MORRIS:  Mr. Bone accepts that the average line speed of
    18        just over 37 cattle per hour is established and that whilst
    19        there might be some hours during the day when 45 to 55 is
    20        achieved, it is not consistent on a normal pattern.  The 35
    21        maximum limit which you said was set by MAFF, would that
    22        apply to all hours of the day?
    23        A.  Yes, of course.
    24
    25   Q.   It is not an average over the day?
    26        A.  It was just a guideline by MAFF; and they had not seen
    27        -- they obviously had not seen the plant in operation at
    28        higher speeds, and they said they found the operation
    29        operating system and the hygiene procedures fine at that
    30        line speed.
    31
    32   Q.   At 35?
    33        A.  Yes.
    34
    35   Q.   Maximum?
    36        A.  Well, their statement said that they found it
    37        satisfactory.
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That is what you are being asked, apart from
    40        anything else, whether the 35 was an average or a maximum
    41        per hour, the guideline?
    42        A.  Well, as far as I can understand, it was a
    43        recommendation that at this speed the hygiene procedures
    44        and the dressing of the carcass could happen in a manner
    45        that minimised contamination.
    46
    47   MR. MORRIS:  What I am asking is that that line speed, is that a
    48        line speed that is average throughout the day, say, as long
    49        as it comes out at the end of the day as less than 35, it
    50        is -- can you just clarify -- or is it that in any one hour 
    51        it should not go above 35? 
    52        A.  Well, as far as I can understand, they meant that at 
    53        any time when the line is moving, it should not move faster
    54        than that.
    55
    56   Q.   OK.  Do you want to continue?
    57        A.  As I said, the case was that it did move.  I am not
    58        saying that it was necessary for slaughtermen to work in
    59        this way at Jarrets, when you take into consideration the
    60        amount of animals they put through.  I am saying that they
 
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