Day 098 - 07 Mar 95 - Page 37
1
2 Q. Right?
3 A. And then shut the door. After stunning, somebody
4 shackles, then another man does the sticking, so four.
5
6 Q. That would be four people?
7 A. Yes.
8
9 Q. How many OVSs are there at the Midland plant?
10 A. At any one time?
11
12 Q. Yes.
13 A. One.
14
15 Q. One. What are the duties of the OVS?
16 A. Well, the duties of the OVS are to ensure that all the
17 statutory or legal requirements are met in terms of
18 welfare, hygiene, etc.
19
20 Q. Are they overseeing the whole kind of slaughter and
21 deboning and all that kind of operation or are they just
22 overseeing one part of it?
23 A. They oversee, technically, they oversee the whole
24 operation.
25
26 Q. What about physically?
27 A. Well, obviously, one man can only be in one place at
28 one time.
29
30 Q. Do they stay in one place all the time?
31 A. No, no, they move around. At certain times they are
32 required for, if we are sending loads, exporting loads, of
33 meat, they are required to fill out certain certification
34 to the effect that this has been produced in this plant
35 and, basically, certify it.
36
37 Q. So they would not be checking every single cow that came in
38 then?
39 A. Yes, they do.
40
41 Q. They do?
42 A. Yes.
43
44 Q. When do they do that then?
45 A. When the cows come in.
46
47 Q. When they are put in the lairage rather than when they are
48 actually going for slaughter?
49 A. Yes, sort of at unloading -- every animal has to be
50 checked by the OVS before it goes into the killing race
51 that we were just talking about, if you like, or into the
52 holding pens before that. There is actually a point at
53 which no cattle can cross, if you like, until they have
54 been checked by the OVS.
55
56 Q. But at what point would the OVS check them?
57 A. Either at unloading or whilst holding or awaiting
58 slaughter.
59
60 Q. It would not be like in the queue as they are going up the
