HEALTH ACT 1911
Country Slaughter-House Regulations 1969
HEALTH ACT 1911
Country Slaughter-House Regulations 1969
Western Australia
Country Slaughter-House Regulations 1969
Contents
Part 1 — Preliminary
1.Citation2
2.Interpretation2
3.Application of regulations3
3A.Executive Director may designate regions3
Part 2 — General requirements
4.Suspension of structural requirements4
5.Persons responsible4
6.Application for consent to construction or alteration4
7.Consent5
8.Annual registration5
Part 3 — Application of code
8A.Code applies to construction and equipment of slaughter‑houses7
Part 4 — Provisions for slaughter-houses to which the code does not apply
9.Construction of a slaughter-house8
10.Fly wire on walls of hanging room17
11.Meat transport vehicle washing bay17
Part 5 — Miscellaneous
12.Fixing hours for slaughtering19
13.Slaughtering to be within hours fixed19
14.Offences and penalties19
Schedule
Notes
Compilation table24
Western Australia
HEALTH ACT 1911
Country Slaughter-House Regulations 1969
Crown Law Department
Perth, 26th June, 1978
THE undermentioned Regulations made under the provisions of the Health Act 1911, and amended from time to time up to and including the 28th May, 1976 are reprinted as so amended pursuant to the Reprinting of Regulations Act 1954, by authority of the Attorney General.
R. M. CHRISTIE,
Under Secretary For Law
[Heading inserted by Gazette 31 March 1995 p.1153.]
These regulations may be cited as the Country Slaughter-house Regulations 1969.
In these regulations, unless the contrary intention appears —
“approved” means approved by the Executive Director, Public Health;
“Australian Code of Practice for Construction and Equipment of Abattoirs” means the code of practice endorsed by the Australian Agricultural Council in August 1984 and published under that title by the Commonwealth Department of Primary Industry in 1986;
“Form” means a form in the Schedule;
“hot water” means water having a temperature of at least 80 degrees Celsius;
“inedible and waste products” means hides, paunch contents, hoofs and horns, condemned material, including carcasses, portion of carcases and offal and includes blood except where it is collected aseptically from a healthy animal for smallgoods manufacture;
“steriliser” means a receptacle so designed that it is capable of holding sufficient hot water to completely immerse implements used in a slaughter-house.
Regulation 2 amended by Gazette 3 May 1974 p.1430; 29 June 1984 p.1781; 31 March 1995 p.1154.]
(1)Part 3 of these regulations applies to all slaughter-houses trading outside the boundaries of the district in which they are located, other than solely to regions designated by the Executive Director, Public Health, under regulation 3A.
(2)Part 4 of these regulations applies —
(a)to slaughter-houses that do not engage in trade outside the boundaries of the district in which they are located; and
(b)to slaughter-houses that trade outside the boundaries of the district in which they are located but only to regions designated by the Executive Director, Public Health, under regulation 3A.
[Regulation 3 inserted by Gazette 31 March 1995 p.1154.]
3A.Executive Director may designate regions
The Executive Director, Public Health, may, by notice published in the Government Gazette, designate regions into which slaughter-house operators may trade, outside the boundaries of the districts in which they are located, without complying with the Code.
[Regulation 3A inserted by Gazette 31 March 1995 p.1154.]
[Heading inserted by Gazette 31 March 1995 p.1154.]
4.Suspension of structural requirements
In respect of a slaughter-house existing at the date of commencement of these regulations, the local authority may, on the application of the owner or occupier of the slaughter-house, suspend the operation of the structural requirements of these regulations for a period of twelve months from that date of commencement.
The owner or occupier of a slaughter-house is responsible for the observance of these regulations with respect to that slaughter-house.
6.Application for consent to construction or alteration
(1)Before a person commences, in any district, to build a new slaughter-house or to make structural alterations to a slaughter‑house, he shall —
(a)advertise, in a newspaper circulating in the district, notice of his intention to make application to the local authority for its consent to so build or make alterations; and
(b)not earlier than one month after the date he advertises pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subregulation, make application, in the form of Form 1, to the local authority for consent to the building or alterations and submit with the application the particulars required by subregulation (2) of this regulation.
(2)A local authority shall not accept an application made pursuant to paragraph (b) of subregulation (1) of this regulation unless there is submitted with the application —
(a)complete specifications of the new slaughter-house or alterations;
(b)a floor plan of each level, showing location of walls, partitions, posts, doorways, windows, lighting arrangements, floor drainage outlets, rail systems, location of principal pieces of equipment, hot and cold water taps and hand washing facilities, with slope of floor drainage outlets indicated by grade lines;
(c)sectional drawings including cross section and longitudinal section to show character of floor, walls, ceilings, height of ceilings, rail heights and height of floor above ground level;
(d)in the case of a new slaughter-house, a site plan that includes the nature of the adjoining properties, type of roads, streets, watercourses, water supply and availability of power; and
(e)in the case of alterations, a plan setting out the location of the proposed alterations and additions in relation to the remainder of the premises.
Before a local authority considers an application made pursuant to regulation 6, the Medical officer for the district shall furnish to the authority, in the form of Form 2, a report on the premises the subject of the application and on the plans and specifications submitted in respect of those premises.
(1)A person seeking the registration of a premises whereon a slaughter-house is to operate or is in operation shall make an application for registration in the form of Form 3.
(2)[Deleted by Gazette 28 May 1976 p.1579.]
(3)On registration of a slaughter- house the local authority shall supply to the person who has applied for the registration a certificate in the form of Form 4.
[Regulation 8 amended by Gazette 28 May 1976 p.1579.]
[Heading inserted by Gazette 31 March 1995 p.1154.]
8A.Code applies to construction and equipment of slaughter‑houses
(1)The owner or occupier of a slaughter-house to which this Part applies shall ensure that the slaughter-house complies with the standards set out in the Australian Code of Practice for Construction and Equipment of Abattoirs.
(2)In the Australian Code of Practice for Construction and Equipment of Abattoirs, a reference to “the Controlling Authority” is to be read as “the Executive Director, Public Health”.
[Regulation 8A inserted by Gazette 31 March 1995 pp.1154-5.]
Part 4 — Provisions for slaughter-houses to which the code does not apply
[Heading inserted by Gazette 31 March 1995 p.1155.]
9.Construction of a slaughter-house
A slaughter-house shall be so constructed and operated that —
(a)dust is effectively controlled within it;
(b)it is protected against rodents, birds, flies, cockroaches and any other vermin by adequate methods, including the regular removal of any material or substance which may be a breeding ground for vermin;
(c)its floors —
(i)are of a dense acid resistant waterproof concrete;
(ii)have a specification of 3 parts metal, 1½ parts sand and 1 part cement by volume;
(iii)have a surface treated with a hardening process by the use of —
(I)Sodium Silicate diluted in proportion of 4.5 litres Sodium Silicate to 18 litres of water; or
(II)Zinc and Magnesium Fluosilicate — the first coat shall be 225 grams fluosilicate to 4.5 litres of water and subsequent coats to be 0.9 kilogram of fluosilicate to 4.5 litres of water; or
(III)boiled or raw linseed oil applied to the surface of the floor hot, which oil may be diluted with equal parts of turpentine for the first coat;
(iv)are not, where they are chiller and freezer floors, continuous with the wall, but have between the floor and the wall, a space for expansion and contraction to which is fitted a resilient water proof compound;
(v)have a gradient ratio of 1 in 48 for wet processing areas and 1 in 96 for dry areas; and
(vi)have drainage that prevents wet processes from causing wetness to other parts of the floor;
(d)subject to regulation 10, the walls in every room where stock are slaughtered, dressed, processed or held in other than a frozen state —
(i)are of an impervious, non-corrosive. non-toxic, non-absorbent material;
(ii)do not have internal surfaces clad with corrugated or flat galvanised iron;
(iii)are in height not less than two metres, but in bleeding areas for cattle not less than three metres and for sheep not less than 2.4 metres;
(iv)have, where metal sheeting is used, an approved solid backing to support and protect the sheeting from damage, a concrete upstand to the height of 300 millimetres with the sheeting overlapping the upstand by at least seventy-five millimetres, and between the upstand and sheeting, sufficient water-proof, resilient compound to prevent the entry of water or dampness;
(v)have every joint waterproof; and
(vi)have, in working areas, approved sanitary type bumpers to prevent damage by hand trucks, carcase shanks and the like;
(e)every junction of every wall, floor, column or platform in it is coved to a radius of seventy-five millimetres.
(f)every window sill or other ledge in it —
(i)is sloped internally to an angle of not less than 45 degrees;
(ii)is situated not less than two metres from the floor; and
(iii)has a smooth, impervious surface;
(g)it has a hanging room to receive carcases from the slaughter and dressing floor immediately upon completion of the dressing operations;
(h)there are on the slaughter-house site or on another site to which a kill can be transported for storage within one and a half hours of the kill refrigeration facilities that —
(i)are of sufficient size to accommodate one day’s kill;
(ii)are controlled to a temperature not exceeding 10 degrees Celsius;
(iii)have, if overhead refrigeration units are installed, insulated drip pans beneath the units; and
(iv)have walls and ceilings of a smooth, impervious surface;
(i)every hanging room, boning room and any other place in it where meat is processed or stored, other than the slaughter-floor, has a smooth and flat ceiling;
(j)it is easily cleansed;
(k)every wall bench in it is supported on a bracket clear of the floor;
(l)every water pipe, gas pipe, steam pipe, electrical conduit or wire and waste pipe in it that is not concealed in a wall chase or cavity runs clear of any wall or column so as to allow easy cleaning of walls;
(m)it has a minimum of 320 lumens per square metre of illumination at the working plane on the slaughter-floor and in the hanging room, for which purpose the working plane means the horizontal, vertical or inclined plane in which the visual task lies;
(n)areas of the principal buildings in it have the following allowances: —
(i)in respect of cattle —
(I)yards, lairs and holding pens at least 1.8 square metres per head with a minimum of 5.5 square metres;
(II)a stunning pen, not exceeding 785 millimetres in width and 2.8 metres in length;
(III)a slaughtering and dressing floor, not less than 9.3 square metres per beast on the floor or carcase being dressed thereon with a minimum of 14 square metres;
(IV)a hanging room 1.4 square metres for every carcase of beef hanging at one and the same time therein unless the official meat inspection is completed before the carcases are taken to the hanging room, in which case the allowance may be reduced to a minimum of 0.95 square metre per carcase with a minimum of 9.3 square metres;
(ii)in respect of sheep and pigs —
(I)yards, lairs and holding pens at least 0.45 square metre per head with a minimum of 5.5 square metres;
(II)sticking pens or a pig stunning pen not less than 2.2 square metres;
(III)a slaughtering and dressing floor, not less than 2.2 square metres per beast being slaughtered and carcase being dressed at any one time with a minimum of 9.3 square metres;
(IV)a hanging room, 0.28 square metre for every carcase hanging at one and the same time therein unless official meat inspection be completed before carcases are taken to the hanging room in which case the allowance may be reduced to 0.14 square metre per carcase with a minimum of 9.3 square metres;
(o)it has a lairage for animals awaiting slaughter that —
(i)is paved with an impervious non slip surface, upon which may be placed movable gratings to prevent animals becoming soiled prior to slaughter;
(ii)is graded to a drain;
(iii)has accommodation for one day’s kill;
(iv)has protection against the weather;
(v)has an ample supply of drinking water readily available to animals at all times;
(vi)is provided with a separate pen for suspect, or sick animals, or animals suffering from obvious disease;
(vii)leads from the off-loading site to the slaughter‑house so that it lies between that site and the slaughterhouse and does not cause dustiness in the slaughter-house;
(viii)has, leading from it to the killing area, a race paved with a dense, impervious, non-slip surface concrete with a 230 millimetre curb on either side;
(p)it has —
(i)an adequate supply of water;
(ii)an adequate supply of hot water, for use in connection with processing and cleansing of meat, cleansing of utensils used in the slaughtering and processing of meat and the cleanliness of persons working in a slaughter‑house;
(iii)all its water supplies potable and under a pressure of not less than 410 kilopascals;
(iv)where the water supply to a slaughter-house is chlorinated or otherwise treated, automatic equipment for use in connection with that water supply; and
(v)washdown points placed in the slaughter-house within nine metres radius of each other;
(q)It has an approved drainage system that —
(i)has a form of effluent disposal sufficient in size and design to cope with all liquid wastes;
(ii)has a save-all for the recovery of grease;
(iii)has, along one side of the save-all, a 1.8 metres concrete apron for the deposition of skimmings or containers for the reception of skimmings and 915 millimetres concrete aprons for the remaining three sides;
(iv)has each concrete apron graded towards and drained to the save-all;
(v)has a concrete curb 75 millimetres in height to the perimeter of the apron of the save-all;
(vi)is, where it is for drainage other than within the slaughter-house or it is storm water, of the enclosed type with all external enclosed drains covered with at least 300 millimetres of earth;
(vii)has, for all floors where wet processing is carried on, at least one drainage outlet for every thirty‑seven square metres of floor area and a bucket trap for each such outlet;
(r)it has on the slaughter-floor facilities for the rapid removal of inedible and waste products from the slaughter-floor so that —
(i)where these products are not processed on the premises, they are placed in containers or storage facilities constructed of non-corrosive, acid resistant, impervious metal or plastic that are proof against flies, rats and all other vermin and all domestic animals;
(ii)the rooms and compartments used for storage of these products are separate from the rooms and compartments used for the storage of edible products; and
(iii)carcases, parts of carcases, offal, bones and heads of any slaughtered stock which are unfit for human consumption are, after each days kill, either disposed of under the supervision of an Inspector or removed from the slaughter- house;
(s)all edible portions of an animal other than the carcase are removed as soon as possible, and immediately after inspection where appropriate, from the area where carcase dressing takes place and placed under refrigeration in a refrigeration room so sited that the products travel by the most direct route from the point where they are detached from the carcase to the refrigeration room;
(t)all equipment in it —
(i)is placed in such a position so as not to impede the proper workings of the slaughter-house;
(ii)is of a type that can be easily cleaned;
(iii)is constructed of metal which is not subject to corrosion or rust, or a nontoxic plastic and which is resistant to the action of acids and fats;
(iv)does not contain cadmium in any form;
(v)does not have any galvanised iron on any internal surface;
(vi)where used for containing, handling or processing any edible product, does not contain copper, lead, enamel or porcelain;
(vii)where used in the product zone, does not have a painted surface;
(u)it has facilities including cattle viscera tables or racks for the dressing of all carcases off the floor and trucks of a sufficient size for the collection of viscera direct from the carcases;
(v)It has sterilisers that are —
(i)conveniently situated on the slaughter-floor;
(ii)constructed of noncorrosive materials;
(iii)of sufficient size to enable all knives, steels, cleavers, saws and other implements used in the dressing, processing and packaging of carcases or meat products, to be efficiently sterilised;
(iv)not used for a purpose other than for which they are designed;
(v)provided with hot running water at all times while the carcases are being dressed in part of the establishment;
(vi)fitted with an overflow and facilities for emptying the receptacle; and
(vii)emptied at the conclusion of every working day and if the Inspector considers it necessary, at intervals during the day;
(w)adequate provision is made in it for the treatment and storage of hides and skins of stock slaughtered there so that —
(i)any such hide is not washed, defleshed, salted or stored in any part of the slaughter-house used for the slaughtering of stock or the dressing of slaughtered stock, or the storage of carcases of slaughtered stock; and
(ii)any such skin, while on the slaughter-house premises, is not stored in any slaughtering, dressing or hanging room, or refrigerator, but is stored in sheds apart from any such room;
(x)any part of it used for the slaughtering, processing and packaging of meat or meat products for human consumption is not used for any other purpose;
(y)the rails in it —
(i)are made of steel;
(ii)for bleeding, are 4.8 metres high for cattle and 2.1 metres high for sheep and pigs;
(iii)for dressing, are 3.4 metres high for cattle and 1.8 metres high for sheep and pigs;
(iv)for hanging rooms and refrigerators, are 3.4 metres high for beef carcases and sides, 2.28 metres high for beef quarters and large pigs and calf carcases, 1.8 metres high for sheep and are placed at a distance away from the parallel walls of — 760 millimetres for cattle and large pigs and 460 millimetres for sheep and other pigs, and, in the hanging rooms, are set apart from each other;
(v)where meat inspection is done, are 1.5 metres and one metre alternatively for cattle and pigs and 900 millimetres and 460 millimetres alternatively for sheep and pigs; and
(vi)where meat inspection is not done, are 760 millimetres for cattle and large pigs and 460 millimetres for sheep and other pigs;
(z)cleansing and hygiene precautions provide for —
(i)maintaining in a clean condition the slaughter‑house and appliances there;
(ii)washing the carcase of every animal slaughtered there with water under pressure;
(iii)the exclusion from the slaughter-floor of any brush or cloth for the cleaning of the carcase of every animal slaughtered there;
(iv)the exclusion from a slaughter-floor of any receptacle containing stagnant water; and
(v)preventing the disposal of effluent and blood from the slaughter-house onto the surface of the ground.
[Regulation 9 amended by Gazette 3 October 1969 p.3016; 3 May 1974 pp.1430‑2.]
10.Fly wire on walls of hanging room
The walls of a hanging room in a slaughter-house may be fly wired from dado height of at least 1.2 metres from the floor to ceiling height on internal walls and 1.8 metres from floor to ceiling height for external walls.
[Regulation 10 amended by Gazette 3 May 1974 p.1432.]
11.Meat transport vehicle washing bay
If trucks used for the transport of meat are to be washed on the premises, the slaughter-house shall have a vehicle washing bay that is —
(a)constructed of dense, acid resistant, waterproof concrete;
(b)of sufficient size to enable the washing processes to be carried on without spillage of waste water onto adjacent ground;
(c)provided with concrete curbs to three sides to a height of at least seventy-five millimetres;
(d)graded to a spoon drain connected to the main drainage system of the slaughter-house.
[Regulation 11 amended by Gazette 3 May 1974 p.1432.]
[Heading inserted by Gazette 31 March 1995 p.1155.]
12.Fixing hours for slaughtering
A local authority may fix the hours within which animals may be slaughtered in its district.
13.Slaughtering to be within hours fixed
Where a local authority fixes hours within which animals may be slaughtered in its district, a person shall not, in that district, slaughter animals outside those hours.
(1)A person who contravenes a provision of the regulations specified in the Table to this subregulation commits an offence.
Table
Regulations 6 (1), 8A, 9, 11 and 13
(2)A person who commits an offence under subregulation (1) is liable to —
(a)a penalty which is not more than $1 000 and not less than —
(i)in the case of a first offence, $100;
(ii)in the case of a second offence, $200; and
(iii)in the case of a third or subsequent offence, $500; and
(b)if that offence is a continuing offence, a daily penalty which is not more than $100 and not less than $50.
[Regulation 14 inserted in Gazette 14 October 1988 p.4160; 31 March 1995 p.1155.]
Form 1
Country Slaughter-house Regulations 1969
APPLICATION FOR CONSENT TO BUILD A NEW SLAUGHTER-HOUSE OR MAKE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS TO A SLAUGHTER-HOUSE
To the Local Authority
for the district of ………………………………………………………….
I, ………………………………………………………………………………….
hereby make application for consent to * build a new slaughter-house/make structural alterations to a slaughter-house upon the premises as set out hereunder.
*Cross out what does not apply
As required by the provisions of the Country Slaughter-house Regulations 1969, plans and specifications of the buildings proposed to be used or erected as a slaughter-house are submitted herewith.
Premises proposed to be used ……………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
Application advertised, (state name of newspaper and date of publication)
……………………………………………………………………………………
Signature of applicant ……………………………………….
Address ……………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………...
Dated ……………………………………………..
Form 2
Country Slaughter-house Regulations 1969
CERTIFICATE OF MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH IN RESPECT OF * A NEW SLAUGHTER- HOUSE/STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS TO A SLAUGHTER-HOUSE
*Cross out what does not apply
I, ………………………………………………………………………………….
of …………………………………………………………………………………
Medical Officer of Health to the local authority for the district of ………………
do hereby certify —
1.I have perused the application made on the……………………. day of
…………………………………… by ……………………………………
of …………………………………………………… for consent to * build a new slaughter-house/make structural alterations to a slaughter‑house at premises situated at …………………………………...
2.I have inspected the said premises and the plans and specifications submitted with the said application in respect of those premises.
3.I consider that when the said plans and specifications are satisfactorily executed the premises will be suitable for the slaughterhouse trade and will have proper provision for observance of the Health Act 1911 and the Country Slaughter-house Regulations 1969.
Dated this . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . day of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19. . . .
……………………………………………….
Medical Officer of Health
Form 3
Country Slaughter-house Regulations 1969
APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF A SLAUGHTER-HOUSE
I, ……………………………………………………………………….. hereby make application for the registration of the slaughter-house as specified hereunder, for the year ended 31st December, 19 . . . . . .
Situation of premises in respect of which registration is sought
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
Signature of Applicant ……………………………………....
Address ……………………………………………………...
Date ……………………………………….
Form 4
Country Slaughter- house Regulations 1969
CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION OF A SLAUGHTER- HOUSE
This is to certify that, on an application being made on the……………………...
day of …………………………………..19 ……………..
by ………………………………………………………………………………...
of …………………………………………………………………………………
the local authority for the district of ……………………………………………..
on the ……………………..day of ………………………. 19 . . . . ., registered
the premises situated at …………………………………………………………..
in the said district as premises on which the slaughter-house trade may be carried on.
………………………………………………….
Town/Shire clerk for the town/shire of
………………………………………………….
1.This is a compilation of the Country Slaughter-house Regulations 1969 and includes the amendments referred to in the following Table.
|
Citation |
Gazettal |
Commencement |
|
Country Slaughter-house Regulations 1969 |
2 Jul 1969 pp.1934‑41 |
2 Jul 1969 |
|
|
29 Jun 1984 p.1781 |
29 Jun 1984 |
|
|
14 Oct 1988 p.4160 |
14 Oct 1988 |
|
Country Slaughter-house Amendment Regulations 1995 |
31 Mar 1995 pp.1153-55 |
31 Mar 1995 |
|
These regulations were repealed by the Health (Meat Hygiene) Regulations 2001 r. 28(a) as at 1 Jun 2001 (see Gazette 1 Jun 2001 p. 2760) |
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