A fatal accident occurred at the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse today (20th) at noon, resulting in the death of a slaughterhouse supervisor who had been employed for about 24 years.
Some people in the industry describe accidents as rare, and have never encountered them in the industry for decades. They speculate that accidents did not happen in daily automatic mechanized production lines, but in emergency slaughterhouses.
The person in the industry added that two people should work together during the electric shock process and slaughter and bloodletting.
Even if a pig suddenly regained consciousness during a faint, another worker would "refill the wok" with an electric shock prod.
The police revealed that only the deceased worked in the slaughterhouse.
As for the clothing of butchers, whether stab-proof clothing should be introduced as protective equipment is yet to be discussed by the industry.
The FEHD pointed out that the accident did not occur on the slaughtering production line, and the supply of fresh meat would not be affected, and urged contractors to provide protective equipment for their employees.
Xu Weijian speculates that the accident happened in the emergency slaughterhouse (file photo/photo by Deng Yongzhong)
Xu Weijian, chairman of the Hong Kong Pork General Chamber of Commerce, said that he has never heard of similar accidents in the industry for decades. He deduced that the accident did not happen in the daily production line, but in the emergency slaughterhouse.
When the daily production line is not in operation, but the slaughterhouse staff finds that there are pigs with abnormal health conditions that need to be slaughtered immediately, that room will be used.
The slaughtering methods of the two are different. The daily production line adopts a fully mechanized automatic electric pig trough, allowing the pigs to enter the aisle, and the pigs will be clamped firmly in the trough, and the electric current will stun the pigs, without the need for staff to do it themselves.
In the emergency slaughter room, two people are needed to work together, one person is responsible for holding the electric shock baton, and the other person is responsible for bleeding with a butcher knife.
During the electric shock process, the head of the pig needs to be shocked for 20 to 30 seconds before the pig is completely stunned and falls to the ground. It must be slaughtered immediately without waiting.
Two people are required to handle the process, but only the deceased worked at the incident
I was asked if there would be mistakes in the electric shock process.
Xu Weijian pointed out that the manual electric shock method has been adopted by slaughterhouses in many districts in Hong Kong, so it is believed that there will be no problem of insufficient power of electric shock rods.
He estimated that it was a local pig that weighed 200 kilograms, or it might have woken up and struggled during the period, mercilessly injuring the butcher.
He added that if the pig suddenly regained consciousness, another worker would "repair the wok" with an electric shock prod.
The police said that the deceased was the only person working in the slaughterhouse.
In the accident, the deceased was mistakenly cut the artery position of the left rear knee by a sharp knife in his hand, which made people question whether the butcher's protective equipment was insufficient.
Xu Weijian said that the temperature in the working environment of the slaughterhouse is high, butchers usually wear shorts, and the slaughterhouse does not provide protective clothing and other equipment. The introduction of protective equipment in the industry is yet to be discussed.
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department: Contractors required to provide protective equipment for employees if the accident did not occur on the slaughtering production line
The FEHD stated that this (20th) afternoon, an employee of the contractor (China Resources Ng Fung Co., Ltd.) of the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse under the department died in an accident during the slaughtering of live pigs. The department deeply regrets the unfortunate incident. My condolences and condolences to the family of the deceased.
The Department has asked the contractor to do its best to provide appropriate assistance and support to the family of the deceased.
The place where the accident occurred was not the main slaughtering production line of the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse. The relevant government departments are investigating the cause of the accident, and the Department has asked the contractor to fully cooperate.
At present, the slaughtering service of the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse remains normal, and the supply of fresh meat will not be affected.
The Department has reminded the contractors to strictly abide by the relevant occupational safety and health regulations in accordance with the contract to ensure that employees work under safe conditions.
According to the relevant contractor contract, the contractor must provide its employees with the necessary protective equipment to avoid injuries to employees.
There are two methods of slaughtering, one uses a fully mechanized automatic electric pig trough, and the other uses manual electric shock.
(Screenshot from the CFS website)
According to the general procedure of slaughtering pigs of the Center for Food Safety, it is divided into 11 steps. The first is ante-mortem inspection. All pigs must be inspected by the ante-mortem inspection team of the slaughterhouse (veterinary) group. Pigs suspected of being sick or injured It will only be screened for isolation slaughter; then it will be stunned, and the pigs will be stunned with electric current in the automatic electric pig trough; then pierced and bled, the arteries and veins in the neck of the pigs will be pierced and hung on the transport trough for bleeding; the blood stains will be washed and dirt; scald pigs with hot water; remove pig hair, open belly to take offal; post-mortem inspection, only edible after passing the inspection by health inspectors; stamping - only the carcasses and viscera that pass the inspection can be stamped Stamped with "government inspection"; needle code, the farm and merchant needle code and production number on the carcass can be used to trace the source of the problem pigs, and finally they are transported by distribution trucks to individual shops for sale.
Butcher in Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse was knocked down by a pig with a knife and stabbed his left foot in a coma After working for 24 years, the supervisor once asked his colleagues for help after he injured his leg artery
