Day 217 - 09 02 96 - Page 56

 
 

                                                                  DAY 217
 
 
 
 
 
     1
     2   Q.   You say these men were regularly, as it were, running the
     3        gauntlet these heavy moving beasts with this trolley?
     4        A.  Everybody does it at an abattoir; it is quite a
     5        daunting experience for a first timer.
     6
     7   Q.   Is it, in fact, much more practicable, easy and efficient
     8        to wait until the line has stopped?
     9        A.  It is, yes.
    10
    11   Q.   What is more, you will have spare hands to push the
    12        trollies because you are not working the line?
    13        A.  Yes, but the men do not consider their hands spare once
    14        the line has stopped like that.  I told you before, that is
    15        not how a slaughterman's mind operates; if it did, we would
    16        not probably need OVSs.
    17
    18   Q.   One other thing about the bins, Miss Hovi:  You first told
    19        us this morning, I think -- I am sorry, I have not got
    20        everything down verbatim because, as his Lordship noticed,
    21        you do speak very quickly; that is not a criticism, if
    22        anything, it is a criticism of me -- you said something
    23        like this:  "First of all, the bins with the bits and
    24        pieces in them were not normally cleaned at all", you
    25        said.  Then you said:  "Well, there was a bin cleaner but
    26        he also worked in the hall and he should not have done
    27        both".  Was there or was there not a bin clean?
    28        A.  Yes, there was a bin cleaner who cleaned the bins that
    29        were used for offal from the -- that went to pet food and
    30        that was from the area, the bins that were kept at the area
    31        where the inspections happen, and also the fat bins from
    32        the fat trimming area.  He used to clean those.  Some of
    33        that is material that is more closer regulated than hind
    34        feet and front feet, and I considered it as clean
    35        material.  Those bins were cleaned.  The bins that I was
    36        talking about were the front feet and horn and hind feet
    37        bins that were not cleaned.
    38
    39   Q.   I agree we are not talking about offal.  We are talking
    40        about these two bins, the forefeet bin and the hind feet
    41        bin, that get pushed through into the hide skin room.  Do
    42        you agree with Mr. Bone at least this, that one person
    43        would take the trolley to the frontier, if I can call it
    44        that, push it through and somebody else would accept it on
    45        the other side?
    46        A.  Yes, that was the procedure that I implemented during
    47        the first two weeks I was working there.  By the time
    48        Mr. Bone started working there, that procedure had already
    49        been implemented but that was the case when I started
    50        working there. 
    51 
    52   MR. MORRIS:  Can I say it is 3 o'clock. 
    53
    54   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.
    55
    56   MR. RAMPTON:  Would your Lordship like to stop now?  I shall, my
    57        Lord, certain finish by quarter past 4.
    58
    59   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  We will see you on Thursday morning then.
    60        That will be the next -- unless you hear anything to the
 
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