Meat Safety Act, 2000 (Act No. 40 of 2000)

Red Meat Regulations, 2004

Part II : Requirements for the Registration of Red Meat Abattoirs [Section 11(1)(A)]

A : Throughput and other requirements for grades

6. Requirements for high throughput red meat abattoirs

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Considering the requirements set out in Part II B (1) and (2), for an abattoir to be graded as a high throughput red meat abattoir-

a)it must have a maximum throughput which the provincial executive officer may determine on grounds of the capacity of the lairages, hourly throughput potential relative to available equipment and facilities including hanging space, chiller capacity as well as rough offal handling and chilling capacity;
b)the abattoir and premises must be designed to separate dirty and clean areas and functions;
c)the premises must be fenced to control access of people and animals and provided with separate gates for clean and dirty functions;
d)facilities to off-load animals humanely and from different vehicle levels must be provided;
e)a facility where livestock transport vehicles must be sanitized after off loading must be provided;
f)lairages and pens must-
i)accommodate at least the throughput of one day;
ii)include restraining facilities for the examination of individual animals; and
iii)include isolation pens, for sick animals, that are constructed so that waste and effluent from them cannot contaminate adjacent pens or passageways;
g)a crush connecting the lairages to the restraining area must be provided;
h)a room must be provided for restraining, stunning, shackling and bleeding animals;
i)separate entrances and facilities for restraining and stunning must be provided for cattle, sheep or goats and pigs, respectively;
j)a separate entrance must be provided to receive animals presented for emergency slaughter;
k)a dry landing area must be provided for shackling stunned animals before bleeding;
l)a bleeding rail leading to a bleeding area and facilities for bleeding animals in a hanging position as well as a return rail for bleeding chains must be provided;
m)a room separated from the bleeding room, equipped with dressing rails separate from the bleeding rail, must be provided where dressing can be done;
n)a separate room must be provided for de-hairing, singeing, de-clawing and pre-evisceration wash of pigs;
o)separate rooms must be provided for-
i)handling and holding of hides, skins, hair and inedible material prior to removal; and
ii)handling and holding of skin on heads and feet;
p)a room where paunches and intestines are emptied, washed and kept must be provided;
q)the rooms referred to in paragraphs (o) and (p) must -
i)be separate and adjacent to the dressing room and interconnected by a closable hatch only; and
ii)have an exterior door for the removal of these materials;
r)separate chillers must be provided for the daily throughput-
i)of carcasses and red offal, unless the red offal is removed from the abattoir on a continuous basis but within four hours after an animal has been eviscerated, and if separate dispatch facilities have been provided for red offal; and
ii)of washed rough offal, unless washed rough offal is removed from the abattoir on a continuous basis but within four hours after an animal has been eviscerated;
s)where freezing facilities are not provided for treatment of conditionally passed measly carcasses at the abattoir, such facilities must be arranged elsewhere with the approval of the provincial executive officer;
t)separate equipped and secure rooms must be provided to-
i)handle and keep detained carcasses, portions and organs;
ii)keep condemned carcasses and material before removal from the abattoir, but if the daily throughput is less than 100 units or the condemned material is removed on a continuous basis during slaughter or a dedicated chiller is available for condemned material, such a room is not required; and
iii)provide hand wash, boot wash and apron wash facilities directly connected to the room mentioned in subparagraph (ii) for persons who handle condemned material;
u)a dispatch area must be provided, equipped -
i)to quarter, sort and mark carcasses and red offal;
ii)with a door for dispatching which is such that the doors of the vehicles will only be opened after docking; and
iii)to ensure that the air temperature in this area is not more than 12°C when carcasses are handled and dispatched;
v)an entrance for personnel must be provided and must be designed as an ante-chamber for cleaning purposes and must be provided with hand wash-basins, soap dispensers, hand drying facilities, a boot wash, apron wash and hooks, and a refuse container, and separate facilities must be provided for both clean and dirty areas;
w)a change room, shower, toilet as well as hand wash facilities must be provided on the premises for persons working at the abattoir and separate facilities must be provided for clean and dirty areas;
x)dining facilities must be provided, for clean and dirty areas, with tables and chairs or benches and must be situated so that personnel do not sit or lie on the ground or soil their protective clothing during rest periods;
y)office accommodation and ablution facilities must be available for meat inspection personnel;
z)a storeroom must be provided for items needed in the daily slaughter process;
aa)office facilities must be separate from bleeding and dressing areas;
bb)suitably equipped rooms and facilities must be provided for sterilization of movable equipment;
cc)a room or rooms for storage of cleaning equipment and chemicals must be provided;
dd)facilities must be provided for wrapping, packing and cartoning (where applicable);
ee)separate storage facilities must be provided for wrapping material and packing material, if both materials are kept;
ff)access to a laboratory must be possible; and
gg)a facility where meat transport vehicles must be sanitized must be provided.