Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) Regulations 1977

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
CitationSI 1977/1805

1977 No. 1805

FOOD AND DRUGS

FOOD HYGIENE

The Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) Regulations 1977

2ndNovember 1977

11thNovember 1977

11thMay 1978

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State for Social Services acting jointly, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 13 and 123 of the Food and Drugs Act 1955(a) as amended by section 46 of and paragraph 4 of Schedule 4 to the Slaughterhouses Act 1974(b) and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, after consultation with such organisations as appear to them to be representative of interests substantially affected by the regulations and after reference to the Food Hygiene Advisory Council pursuant to section 82 of the Food and Drugs Act 1955 hereby make the following regulations:—

PART I

PRELIMINARY

Citation and commencement

1. These regulations may be cited as the Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) Regulations 1977, and shall come into operation on 11th May 1978, save that as respects slaughterhouses operating before 11th May 1978, regulations 3(b), 5(a), (c), (f), (h), 16(2), 17(3), 31, 34(a) and 36(a) shall come into operation on 11th November 1980.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires:

"the Minister" means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;

"authorised officer" means an authorised officer for the purposes of section 86 of the Food and Drugs Act 1955;

"animals" means cattle, swine, sheep, horses and goats;

"carcases" includes parts of carcases;

"contravention" in relation to any provision of these regulations includes a failure to comply with that provision;

"disinfect" means to apply hygienically satisfactory chemical or physical agents or processes with the intention of eliminating micro-organisms;

(a) 1955 c. 16 (4 & 5 Eliz. 2.)

(b) 1974 c. 3.

"lairage" means (except in regulation 20) that part of a slaughterhouse used for the confinement of animals awaiting slaughter there;

"local authority" means—

(a) as respects the City of London, the Common Council;

(b) as respects any London borough, the council of the borough; and

(c) as respects any district, the council of the district;

"manure pit" means a pit which is used to collect or contain dry sheep manure and which is situated beneath a self-cleaning open mesh or grating type floor in a sheep lairage;

"meat" means the flesh of animals, including fat and offal;

"occupier" means—

(a) in relation to a slaughterhouse provided by a local authority, that local authority;

(b) in relation to a port slaughterhouse, the occupier thereof; and

(c) in relation to any other slaughterhouse, the holder of the slaughterhouse licence issued in relation to the premises;

"offal" means meat other than that of the carcase whether or not naturally connected to the carcase;

"operating" means in relation to any slaughterhouse, that at the material time the whole or any part of the premises is in use as a public or port slaughterhouse or is the subject of a slaughterhouse licence;

"port slaughterhouse" means a slaughterhouse forming part of an imported animals' wharf or landing place approved by the Minister under the Diseases of Animals Act 1950(a), for the purpose of the landing of imported animals;

"slaughterhall" means that part of the slaughterhouse in which animals are slaughtered or carcases are dressed;

"slaughterhouse" means a place for slaughtering animals, the flesh of which is intended for sale for human consumption, and includes any place available in connection therewith for the confinement of animals while awaiting slaughter there or for keeping, or subjecting to any treatment or process, products of the slaughtering of animals there; but does not include any place available in connection with a slaughterhouse and used solely for the manufacture of bacon and ham, sausages, meat pies, or other manufactured meat products, or for the storage of meat used in such manufacture;

"slaughterhouse licence" means a licence under Part I of the Slaughterhouses Act 1974 authorising the occupier of any premises to keep them as a slaughterhouse.

(2) The Interpretation Act 1889(b) shall apply to the interpretation of these regulations as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.

(3) Any reference in these regulations to a numbered regulation or schedule shall be construed as a reference to the regulation or schedule bearing that number in these regulations.

(a) 1950 c. 36.

(b) 1889 c. 63.

PART II

CONSTRUCTION OF SLAUGHTERHOUSES

Lay-out of slaughterhouse

3. The slaughterhouse shall be arranged so as—

(a) to provide adequate space and facilities for the efficient performance of meat inspection;

(b) to permit clean operations to be carried out adequately separated from those operations liable to give rise to contamination or pollution, and

(c) to permit the functioning of all operations under hygienic conditions.

Arrangement of lairage

4. The arrangement of the lairage shall include a lockable pen in which animals diseased or injured or suspected of being diseased or injured may be isolated from other animals.

Accommodation

5. Every slaughterhouse shall contain:—

(a) suitable and sufficient lairage;

(b) suitable and sufficient space for the hanging of meat so as to allow air to circulate freely at all times between the carcases;

(c) suitable and sufficient refrigerated accommodation for the storage of meat, unless all meat is to be removed from the slaughterhouse within 48 hours of slaughter of the animals from which the meat is derived;

(d) suitable and sufficient covered accommodation and facilities apart from the slaughterhall and hanging space for the emptying and cleaning of stomachs and intestines;

(e) suitable, sufficient and separate facilities capable of being securely locked for the isolation of meat requiring further examination by an authorised officer; in the case of slaughterhouses operating for the first time after 10th May 1978 such facilities shall also be refrigerated wherever reasonably practicable;

(f) suitable, sufficient and separate accommodation for the preparation of casings and tripe where such preparation is carried out on the premises;

(g) suitable and sufficient accommodation for the retention, locked away from all other meat, of all meat rejected as being unfit for human consumption;

(h) suitable, sufficient and separate accommodation for the storage of hides and skins unless they are to be collected and taken away daily;

(i) suitable and sufficient accommodation, not being any part of the premises which may at any time contain meat, where persons working in the slaughterhouse may change their clothes; and

(j) in the case of slaughterhouses operating for the first time after 10th May 1978 suitable, and sufficient space and facilities to enable livestock vehicles thoroughly to be cleaned and disinfected.

Lighting and ventilation

6.—(1) Every slaughterhouse shall be provided with well distributed artificial light of an overall intensity of not less than 220 lux throughout the slaughter-hall and workrooms, provided that, at places where meat inspection is carried out, the overall intensity of artificial light shall not be less than 540 lux.

(2) The artificial light referred to in paragraph (1) of this regulation must be such that it does not distort the natural colour of meat.

7.—(1) Every slaughterhouse shall be provided with suitable and sufficient means of ventilation to the external air, except in the case of a humidity-controlled or temperature-controlled chamber.

(2) All ventilating apparatus shall at all times be kept in good operational working order.

Cleanliness and repair

8. The rooms used for the preparation and storage of meat shall be constructed so as to prevent, as far as is reasonably practicable, the entry of birds and any risk of infestation by vermin and insects.

9.—(1) The interior wall surfaces of any rooms provided for the purposes of regulations 5(d) and 5(g) and all workrooms, hanging rooms and slaughterhalls shall be faced with smooth durable impervious and washable material, which shall be of a light colour, up to a height of not less than 3 metres from the floor or the full height of the room whichever is the lower, except that in the case of rooms used solely for cutting or boning meat or the packing of cut or boned meat such height requirement shall be not less than 2 metres. In the case of slaughterhouses operating before 11th May 1978 the height requirement for such wall surfaces in rooms provided for the purposes of regulation 5(g) and all workrooms, hanging rooms and slaughterhalls shall until 11th November 1980 be 1·8 metres; except that where carcases may come into contact with any wall at a level higher than 1·8 metres from the floor the facing requirements shall be continued up to such higher level; and until 11th November 1980 such surfaces shall not be compulsory in rooms provided for the purposes of regulation 5(d).

(2) In the case of slaughterhouses operating for the first time after 10th May 1978 the angles between the floor and wall surfaces referred to in sub-paragraph (1) of this regulation and also the angles between all adjacent wall surfaces shall be rounded.

10. All ceilings and, where there are no ceilings, the interior surfaces of roofs and all interior surfaces not referred to in regulations 9 or 11 shall be so constructed and finished as to minimise condensation, mould development, flaking and the lodgment of dirt, and shall be kept in such good order, repair and condition as to enable them to be thoroughly cleaned.

11. All floors in lairages, slaughterhalls, workrooms, hanging rooms and any rooms provided for the purposes of regulations 5(d) and 5(g) shall be of impervious non-slip material, so constructed and kept in such good order, repair and condition as to enable them to be thoroughly cleaned; and floors in slaughterhalls and workrooms shall be laid so as to have a fall of not less than 5 centimetres in every 3 metres...

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