Meat Plant Construction and Equipment
Meat Plant Construction and Equipment
Meat Plant Construction and Equipment
May, 2016
Mekelle, Ethiopia
Table of content
Contents page
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 5
1. General construction and layout of abattoirs ........................................................................................ 7
Classification of slaughter house .............................................................................................................. 8
Large scale ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Medium scale ........................................................................................................................................ 8
Small scale ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Plans and specifications ............................................................................................................................ 8
1.1. Components of abattoir ................................................................................................................. 8
1.1.1. Premise ................................................................................................................................. 9
1.1.2. Reception............................................................................................................................. 10
1.1.3. Livestock pens (lairages) .................................................................................................... 11
1.1.4. Isolation pen........................................................................................................................ 12
1.1.5. Pre-slaughter holding pens ................................................................................................. 13
1.1.6. Stunning, hoisting and bleeding areas ................................................................................ 13
1.1.7. Slaughter and dressing hall ................................................................................................ 14
1.1.8. Meat inspection points ........................................................................................................ 15
1.1.8.1. Head inspection point.................................................................................................. 15
1.1.8.2. Viscera inspection point .............................................................................................. 15
1.1.8.3. Carcass inspection point.............................................................................................. 15
1.1.8.4. Veterinary held rail inspection point ........................................................................... 16
1.1.9. Detained rooms ................................................................................................................... 16
1.1.10. Condemned and inedible rooms .......................................................................................... 16
1.1.11. Hide, skin and feet rooms.................................................................................................... 16
1.1.12. Carcass Coolers .................................................................................................................. 17
1.1.13. Offal coolers........................................................................................................................ 17
1.1.14. Freezers............................................................................................................................... 17
1.1.15. Head preparation rooms ..................................................................................................... 18
1.1.16. Offal preparation rooms ..................................................................................................... 18
1.1.17. Cutting and de-boning rooms ............................................................................................. 18
1.1.18. Vacuum packaging Area ..................................................................................................... 18
1.1.19. Weighing, labeling and pack off rooms............................................................................... 18
1.1.20. Dispatch .............................................................................................................................. 19
1.1.21. Employee welfare rooms ..................................................................................................... 19
1.1.22. Inspectors' office ................................................................................................................. 19
1.1.23. Washrooms toilets and urinals ............................................................................................ 19
1.1.24. Dressing rooms ................................................................................................................... 20
1.1.25. Equipment store .................................................................................................................. 20
1.1.26. Dry storage rooms .............................................................................................................. 20
1.1.27. Laboratory .......................................................................................................................... 21
1.1.28. Clothes washing & ironing room ........................................................................................ 21
1.1.29. First aid accommodation .................................................................................................... 21
1.1.30. Fire protection equipment ................................................................................................... 21
1.1.31. Incinerator .......................................................................................................................... 21
1.1.32. Waste disposal system ......................................................................................................... 21
1.1.32.1. Waste Treatment ......................................................................................................... 21
1.1.32.2. Drainage ...................................................................................................................... 21
1.1.33. Energy production unit ....................................................................................................... 21
1.1.34. Boiler room ......................................................................................................................... 22
1.1.35. Sterilization room................................................................................................................ 22
1.1.36. Emergency slaughter house ................................................................................................ 22
1.1.37. Post-mortem inspection area .............................................................................................. 22
1.1.38. Maintenance workshop ....................................................................................................... 22
1.1.39. Feed store............................................................................................................................ 22
1.2. Site selection for abattoirs ........................................................................................................... 22
Planning suitability ..................................................................................................................... 23
Physical suitability: .................................................................................................................... 23
Infrastructural Suitability ........................................................................................................... 23
Locational suitability .................................................................................................................. 23
Financial suitability .................................................................................................................... 23
1.2.1. Environment ........................................................................................................................ 23
1.2.2. Geological structures and features ..................................................................................... 24
1.2.3. Site dimensions.................................................................................................................... 24
1.2.4. Services ............................................................................................................................... 24
Water supply ........................................................................................................................... 24
Effluent disposal ..................................................................................................................... 24
Power source ........................................................................................................................... 24
Access roods ........................................................................................................................... 24
Isolation................................................................................................................................... 24
Abattoir compound: ................................................................................................................ 24
Abattoir boundary fence: ........................................................................................................ 25
2. Facilities required................................................................................................................................ 25
Water supply: .................................................................................................................................. 25
Electricity supply: ........................................................................................................................... 25
Road accessibility: .......................................................................................................................... 25
Waste Disposal and Drainage Systems ........................................................................................... 25
3. Equipment required ............................................................................................................................. 25
3.1. List of slaughter house equipments ............................................................................................. 26
4. Summery ............................................................................................................................................. 28
5. Reference ............................................................................................................................................ 28
List of tables
Generally speaking, biological, chemical and physical contaminants can all be encountered at an
abattoir. The manner in which animals are slaughtered, eviscerated, dressed, and stored can
affect the growth of pathogens and the potential for contamination of the meat by dirt, feces or
other materials from animals, equipment and premises. The lack of hygienic practices by plant
workers can also contaminate the carcasses or cause cross-contamination between different
carcasses (Savage, 1995).
Concurrent with growth in international trade of livestock products, consumer preference for safe
and wholesome food has increased quite considerably. Contamination of livestock products can
occur at various stages in the supply chain i.e., production, processing and distribution. By
practicing good abattoir hygiene and slaughtering techniques, the levels of carcass contamination
can be kept low (Barter, 2014).
The design and layout of an export abattoir and its equipment shall facilitate the hygienic
processing of meat and meat products and any inspection or auditing necessary during or after
production. For this reason, the location, design, layout and construction of abattoir premises and
the choice of fixtures, fittings and equipment are crucial to ensure that the abattoir can operate
under hygienic conditions and produce meat safely. An abattoir should be designed to ensure the
flow of operations from the live animal holding area through to shipping areas. Each function in
the slaughter process has a fixed status in terms of "Clean" and "Dirty" areas which are separated
by “Distance”, “Physical Barriers” and in certain cases by “Time”. In other words, meat
products should proceed progressively through cleaner areas of the operation, without
backtracking to areas where the product was previously handled (Sandrou and Arvanitoyannis,
1999).
The layout of the premises and building must be designed so that the production process moves
in one direction without any cross flow of products, which may adversely affect the hygiene of
the product. For instance, live animals are received at the "Dirty" end of the abattoir and meat is
out loaded from the “Clean” side of the abattoir. In planning an abattoir, provisions for
expansion should not disrupt the flow of operations or interfere with efficient processing. In
general, this document will be used by inspectors and management of licensed export abattoirs as
a guideline to plant layout, construction, facilities and equipment (Gue, 1998). Apart from this, it
is intended to provide broad principles and minimum standards that will facilitate the production
of safe and wholesome meat, meat products and byproducts. Therefore when constructing a
standard export abattoir, due consideration should be provided to the following issues. Unless
and otherwise stated, this guideline refers to cattle slaughterhouses (Holt, 1974).
Lairage
Slaughter hall
Rail system
Gut & tripe
Cold room
Detained meat room
Condemned meat room
Cutting room
Drainage system
Veterinary laboratory
Water supply
Electricity supply
Hide & skin room
Disinfection facilities
Grandin (2001), briefly describes the slaughter house activities in each of the slaughter house
components step by step as follows, the animals supplied to the slaughterhouse are weighed on a
cattle balance and then unloaded along the reception ramp into pens for rest. The cattle undergo a
medical checkup for the presence of any disease before they are slaughtered. They are stunned
by a gun in a box and afterwards slaughtered and removed to the bleeding line where blood is
collected in a basin. The carcasses are loaded by electric hoist from the slaughter line to the
processing line. Loading, spreading of rear legs and de-hiding are carried out on a three level plat
form, and final de-hiding done on a two level plat form by means of a pneumatic knife. The horns
are removed by electric saw, and the heads inspected and washed. The brisket is opened by electric
saw, this entails inspected and extracted. Stomach and casings are transported for cleaning. Carcasses
are split into halves which are washed and inspected.
The meat is cut on tables in a cutting room by means of electric or hand operated saws and knives.
Then the meat is washed to remove blood and kept in the chilled room till supplied to the customers.
By products include non-edible fat, bone meal, glue, horn etc. The efficient utilization of by products
is essential for the economic operation of a processing plant. The total annual revenue obtained from
the sale of these by products is estimated at Birr 800,000. The envisaged plant needs waste water
treatment plant that uses physico-chemical system in order to abate the environmental pollution. The
treatment process involves settling, filtration, addition of flocculates and mixing, and floatation. The
sludge from the treatment plant is used as fertilizer.
According to Rojas et al. (2010), each of the slaughter house components should fulfil some criterias
to be called as a component of a modern abattoir.
1.1.1. Premise
Abattoir premises must be fenced with lockable gates in order to control the unauthorised
entry of vehicles, persons and animals.
Prevailing winds must not blow from the "dirty" side to the "clean" side.
Natural slope should allow that rainwater and runoff from the dirty area must not flow into
the abattoir, nor must they flow from the dirty to the clean side of the premises.
Tanks for the collection of effluent and pre-purification plants must be situated at the lowest
point of the site, on the dirty side.
There should be water storage, chlorination and pressure tanks. These must be on the clean
side, preferably at the highest point.
In order to control access roads and ensure staff separation, the "clean" and "dirty" areas of
the premises must be physically separated.
Vehicles which offload live animals, load intestines, heads and feet as well as vehicles
removing paunch contents, condemned material and refuse in the "dirty" area should not have
access to areas where meat vehicles and staff who handle meat are to be found.
Traffic areas in the abattoirs must have a surface that is dust and mud free, readily cleanable
and well drained. The traffic zones of abattoirs must have a permanent surface. Planting of
grasses and trees is not encouraged as these might attract insects.
The abattoir compound needs to be partitioned in dirty, clean and hygienic areas with respect
to the very internal partition of the abattoir. The partition shall be a properly structured, see-
through material and provided with lockable gates to allow authorized cross from one area to
the other.
Specific areas such as collection points for manure from holding pens and paunch contents
must also be paved, drained and provided with curbstones.
The main gate(s) to the abattoir should have disinfectant tubs 3m X 1m X 10-30 cm; (30 cm
deep at the center) to rinse vehicle tyres.
The length of the disinfectant tub(s) at each entrance gate to the slaughter hall shall be as
wide as the entrance door.
Cold and hot water point, pressure of 0.8 to 1.2 bar or 14 kgf/cm2 at the nozzles must be
installed for cleaning meat transporting trucks.
The truck washing area should be connected to the main drainage canal.
1.1.2. Reception
The reception area should have offloading platforms alongside the truck reception point.
The length of the platform should correspond to the total length of all trucks. Docks of
different heights or adjustable ramps should be provided to accommodate vehicles of varying
heights.
The unloading facilities shall be so constructed that unloading can be carried out without
having a gap between the vehicle and the unloading dock. The sides of any ramps should be
high enough to prevent the escape or injury of animals. Ideally, the unloading dock area
should be level.
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The angle of ramp slope should not exceed 25 from the horizontal. The platform should
slope at the ends to ground level of not more than 8%.
The sides of any ramp should be high enough to prevent the escape or injury of animals.
Facilities shall be provided for the unloading and conveyance of crippled animals directly to
the bleeding rail in a humane manner. Where these facilities are not practical, suitable
facilities shall be provided for the immediate "on-the-spot" stunning and bleeding; or
stunning followed by the conveyance of the stunned animal directly to the killing floor for
bleeding.
1.1.14. Freezers
Floors shall be properly insulated and constructed to eliminate possibilities of frost damage.
Floor and wall racks shall be provided with proper air circulation, as required.
All sharp (blast) freezers shall be capable of maintaining temperatures of -25oC or lower.
Holding freezers shall be capable of maintaining temperatures of -18oC or lower.
All freezer rooms shall be equipped with thermometer and thermographs.
1.1.15. Head preparation rooms
Should be adjacent to the bleeding and flaying area and possibly connected with a conveyor
or with sliding chute.
The wall of the room must be epoxy paint 2 meter high from the floor.
The floor of the room shall be grooved rough epoxy paint with 2% slope.
The room should have an open drainage canal top covered with iron grill.
2-3 shielded head washing cabinets and equipment sanitizing facilities should be available.
There should be hot and cold pressurized water supply.
1.1.31. Incinerator
The incinerator should be built on the leeward of the abattoir and height of the chimney
should be higher than the height of the abattoir.
The incinerator could be built either from metal or bricks.
Its size should be enough to incinerate whole carcass of cattle at a time and must be at least
50 m away from the slaughterhouse and service facilities.
1.1.32.2. Drainage
Piped waste disposal system should include manhole and other sewer appurtenance.
Manhole covers must fit the manhole and be sealed with cement mortar when closed.
The slope of floors shall be at least 0.5%, but for wet operation areas it should be 1%.
The drainage canal in the slaughter hall should be open top covered with iron grills.
Where drainage pipes are required at least one inlet shall be provided for every 40 m2 of floor
area.
The external drainage must be closed pipe system.
Drainage should be fitted with traps (U-shaped traps) to prevent backflow.
As can be noted like most spatial decision making problems, the land allocation problem associated
with abattoirs is multi-criteria in nature, involving economic, social, environmental and political
dimensions. To make things clear, the site characteristics for an abattoir are evaluated (using a
manual procedure) based on various suitability aspects including:
Planning suitability: this refers to whether a site is suitable and appropriate for the intended
land use. The data needed for evaluation incorporate site capacity, present land use, planned
land use (zoning and restriction), ownership/land control, and environmental impact.
Physical suitability: this relates to the physical characteristics that influence the suitability
of the site for development. Data are required on general topography, slope, flood hazard, etc.
Infrastructural Suitability: this is associated with existing and supplementary physical
infrastructures that are important for the proper functioning of the abattoir and include access
road, electric power and water supplies.
Locational suitability: this refers to the distance from the intended site to certain geographic
features such as rivers/streams, residences, high tension electric lines, airports, etc., and
Financial suitability: this relates to the financial consequences of development of the site.
Relevant data comprise acquisition and compensation costs, site development cost, etc.
The choice of a suitable site for an abattoir is the most important aspect. Therefore, the factors listed
below must be taken into account when selecting an appropriate site (Standard, 2005).
1.2.1. Environment
No source of contamination (e.g. objectionable odors, smoke, flying ash, etc.) should occur in
the environment where an abattoir is placed. E.g. a paint factory, foundry, sewage farm, river,
residential area, etc.
Abattoirs are classified as light industries and can cause water pollution. Therefore, abattoirs
should be located at reasonable distances away from any river.
The site where an abattoir is going to be established must be free from big trees that may
harbor scavenging birds.
1.2.2. Geological structures and features
Drainage is affected by the nature of the soil e.g. sandy or loom, by the water table and the
slope of the surface. Therefore, the site which is selected for the establishment of an export
abattoir must promote good drainage systems.
1.2.4. Services
Water supply: An adequate supply of potable water must be available. Consideration
should also be given to the storage and treatment of water.
Effluent disposal: An effective system for the disposal or removal of effluent and
satisfactory means of garbage disposal must be provided.
Power source: There must be a reliable source of stand-by power for cooling,
heating of water, lighting, as well as for the partial or total mechanization of the
abattoir.
Access roods: Access roads to abattoirs should be at least compacted grovel rood as
per the Ethiopian Rood Authority's Rural Road Standard (RR10). Roadways on the
premises must be properly graded, compacted, dust proofed, and drained. The
building verge, main internal access road, loading bays and all areas serving vehicular
traffic must be either paved or tarred.
Isolation: An abattoir should be far from residential areas, social services and
airfields (according to Ethiopian air transport authority regulation). A minimum
buffer distance of 500 m downwind of an abattoir and 1000 m for a rendering plant is
recommended to the nearest residence or residential area.
Abattoir compound: There has to be a separation either through fence or wall
between the clean and dirty areas of the abattoir compound corresponding with the
abattoir’s internal separation.
Abattoir boundary fence: The abattoir boundary fence must be either masonry wall
or wire mesh with iron poles of about 2 meters high.
2. Facilities required
New sites for abattoirs are usually located on vacant undeveloped area. In such cases, it is important
that the necessary infrastructure, facilities and utilities are provided for the proper functioning of an
abattoir. The discussion below is based on the guideline provided by (Lawan et al., 2013).
Water supply: As already discussed, the various operations occurring in an
abattoir involve the use of large amount of water. Most of the time such water
requirements are satisfied from the corresponding municipal town's water supply
system. However, where such water supply system is inadequate or absent, deep
wells should be borehole.
Electricity supply: Among other things, laboratory activities are conducted in
an abattoir. In order for the laboratory to provide regular service, there should
not to be an interruptible electric supply. For meat examination, the intensity of
the light should be 540 lux and in other working places it could be 220 lux or
110 lux depending on the situation.
Road accessibility: Access roads to abattoirs should be at least compacted
gravel road as per the Ethiopian Road Authorities rural road standard. The
provision of such facility, of course, depends on the financial capacity of the
corresponding municipality.
Waste Disposal and Drainage Systems: It is recommended that for efficient
waste disposal and drainage system, the topography of the abattoir site
preferably be gentle slope.
3. Equipment required
According to Ayling (1908): Equipment should be of easily cleaned, simple design and made of non-
corrosive and rust-resistant material such as stainless steel. Softwood floor racks and pallets are
permitted only in dry storages. Equipment should be designed for ease of cleaning and inspection. To
facilitate dismantling, quick opening devices that require simple or no tools should be provided. All
welded equipment, including tables and bins, should have continuous smooth and even welded joints.
Junctions and corners should be coved with a minimum radius of 0.6 cm to facilitate cleaning.
Copper is not acceptable for equipment which contacts edible meat products. Copper piping should
not be used when ammonia refrigeration is utilized. Cadmium is not acceptable in the construction of
equipment used for handling edible meat products. Lead shall not be used in the construction of
equipment contacting edible meat products. The use of aluminium should be limited to applications
where the metal does not directly contact the meat.
Equipment with painted surfaces contacting meat products is not acceptable. The use of containers or
equipment made of enamel ware or porcelain is not acceptable for any purpose in connection with
the handling and processing of meat products. Portable equipment used for collecting, holding and
transferring condemned and other inedible material must be of industrial grade, non-toxic plastic or
rust resistant metal, water-tight, covered, and distinctly and uniformly marked for identification.
4. Summery
Abattoir is defined as any premises that is approved and registered by the controlling authority in
which animals are slaughtered and dressed for human consumption. The slaughterhouse design
should be based on the criteria of use e.g. the number of animals to be slaughtered, the available
land. In general, an abattoir shall be designed to facilitate hygienic operations by means of a
regulated and one way flow of process; from the arrival of raw materials through to the
packaging and shipping of finished product. New sites for abattoirs are usually located on vacant
undeveloped area. In such cases, it is important that the necessary infrastructure, facilities and
utilities are provided for the proper functioning of an abattoir. Slaughterhouses can generally be
classified into three as small, medium and large. Each of this could have different components
based on the available capital and additional services needed to provide: each of the equipments
could also be equipped with different slaughterhouse equipments.
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