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United States Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service - Office of Field Operations (FSIS – OFO)

Humane Handling Quarterly Report for the 12-Month Period Ending September 30, 2012

Overview
This report provides an overview of humane handling (HH) and slaughter procedures (04C02) performed by FSIS inspection program personnel (IPP) in Federally Inspected livestock slaughter facilities. Also included is information on noncompliance records (NR) issued for inhumane handling, HH verification time recorded in the FSIS Humane Handling Activity Tracking System (HATS), FSIS slaughter data, and inhumane handling suspensions for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2012.

The FSIS Data Analysis and Integration Group (DAIG) extracted data on inspection activities, slaughter totals, and HH time from the FSIS Data Warehouse including data from establishments converted to PHIS. This data was extracted November 19, 2012. The suspension data was provided by FSIS' Office of Program Evaluation, Enforcement and Review (OPEER).

Humane Handling Procedures Performed
For the 12-month period ending September 30, 2012, there were 171,953 Humane Handling 04C02 procedures performed (Table 1). This is a 34% increase from the 128,064 procedures performed for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2011.

Suspensions
There were 72 inhumane handling suspensions at 58 FSIS facilities with an overall NR rate of 0.97% for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2012, compared to 61 inhumane handling suspensions at 46 FSIS facilities with an overall NR rate of 0.66% for the 12 month period ending September 30, 2011 (Table 2). From the 58 suspended facilities, 3 establishments had 3 suspensions and 8 establishments had 2 suspensions (OPEER suspension data).

Time Spent on HATS Activities
For the 12-month period ending September 30, 2012, the total HATS time was 328,157 hours in 806 FSIS livestock slaughter plants, compared to 318,060 hours for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2011 in 807 FSIS livestock slaughter plants (Table 3). The time spent by Public Health Veterinarians (PHV) was 212,996 hours compared to 115,162 hours by non-PHV inspection personnel.

Plant Size Comparison of Livestock Facilities, Head Slaughtered, Procedures Performed and HATS Activities
When breaking down the slaughter, 04C02 procedures, and HATS time data by plant size for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2012, the following was identified: : Livestock heads slaughtered ranged from 2,861,347 in 572 very small plants to 126,689,266 in 62 large plants; the percent noncompliance rate was 0.26% for large plants, 0.41% for small plants, and 0.48% for very small plants. The HATS time per 04C02 procedure performed ranged from 2.48 hours per 04C02 procedure performed in large plants to 1.29 hours per 04C02 procedure performed in very small plants (Table 4).

District Comparison of Livestock Facilities, Head Slaughtered, Procedures Performed and HATS Activities
For the 12-month period ending September 30, 2012, the noncompliance percent rate by district ranged from 0.10% in Springfield, to 0.69% in Alameda. For the same time period, the noncompliance rate per 100,000 livestock heads slaughtered ranged from 0.09 in Springdale to 3.55 in Philadelphia (Table 5).

Overall, for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2012, livestock head slaughtered increased when compared to the 12-month period ending September 30, 2011. Also, the overall HATS time increased from 318,060 hours to 328,157 hours. The number of 04C02 procedures increased from 128,064 to 171,953 and the number of noncompliances increased from 503 to 684.

Table 1: Total 04C02 Procedures Performed from 10/1/2011 to 09/30/2012

Quarter Total Performed Noncompliant Percent Noncompliant
FY12Q1 38,114 163 0.43%
FY12Q2 42,442 181 0.43%
FY12Q3 43,299 150 0.35%
FY12Q4 48,098 190 0.40%
FY12Q1–FY12Q4 Total 171,953 684 0.40%
 
FY11Q1–FY11Q4 Total 128,064 503 0.39%



Table 2: Total 04C02 Procedures Performed in FSIS Facilities Suspended for Inhumane Handling from 10/1/2011 to 09/30/2012

Quarter Suspension Initiation Total Performed Noncompliant Percent Noncompliant
FY12Q1 23 3,628 44 1.21%
FY12Q2 12 4,132 49 1.19%
FY12Q3 23 4,169 32 0.77%
FY12Q4 14 4,805 37 0.77%
FY12Q1–FY12Q4 Total 72 16,734 162 0.97%
 
FY11Q1–FY11Q4 Total 61 13,749 91 0.66%


 

Table 3. PHV and Non-PHV Time Spent on HATS activities by FSIS personnel from 10/1/2011 to 09/30/2012

Quarter PHV Time Non-PHV Time Total Time
FY12Q1 43,832 30,083 73,914
FY12Q2 48,812 23,404 72,216
FY12Q3 51,184 24,678 75,862
FY12Q4 69,168 36,997 106,165
FY12Q1–FY12Q4 Total 212,996 115,162 328,157
Staff Years* 102 55 158
 
FY11Q1–FY11Q4 Total 158,737 159,323 318,060
Staff Years* 76 77 153

*1 staff year equivalent = 2,080 hours


Table 4: Number of Federally Inspected Livestock Slaughter Facilities by Plant Size** from 10/1/2011 to 09/30/2012, including: Head Slaughtered, Inhumane Handling Suspensions, 04C02 Procedures, and HATS Time

Size Livestock Slaughter Facilities Livestock Head Slaughtered Inhumane Handling Suspensions Suspensions/ Livestock Facilities Total 04C02 Performed 04C02 Non-compliant Percent Non- compliant Total HATS in Hours HATS (hours) per 04C02 Performed
Large 62 126,689,266 7 0.11 50,294 133 0.264% 124,773 2.48
Small 172 18,276,305 19 0.11 48,738 200 0.410% 108,981 2.24
Very Small 572 2,861,347 46 0.08 72,921 351 0.481% 94,404 1.29
FY12Q1–FY12Q4 Total 806 147,826,918 72 0.09 171,953 684 0.398% 328,157 1.91
 
FY11Q1–FY11Q4 Total 807 145,194,717 58 0.07 128,064 503 0.393% 318,060 2.48

**Large—establishments with 500 or more employees; Small—establishments with 10 or more but fewer than 500 employees; very small— establishments with fewer than 10 employees.


Table 5: Total Count of Federally Inspected Livestock Slaughter Facilities and 04C02 Procedure Results and HATS Time from 10/1/2011 to 09/30/2012 by FSIS District, including Livestock Head Slaughtered, and Noncompliant by Livestock Heads Slaughtered

District Livestock Slaughter Facilities Livestock Head Slaughtered HATS Time in Livestock Facilities HATS Time in Cattle Facilities Total 04C02 Performed 04C02 Non-compliant Percent Non-compliant NRs per 100,000 Livestock Head Slaughtered
05 Alameda 38 5,132,154 35,362 27,923 11,347 78 0.69% 1.52
15 Denver 131 19,217,857 51,756 44,585 29,955 77 0.26% 0.40
25 Des Moines 83 49,976,863 44,496 21,515 25,548 105 0.41% 0.21
35 Springdale 69 15,107,526 25,912 20,257 13,455 14 0.10% 0.09
40 Dallas 58 12,442,252 36,663 29,629 14,911 47 0.32% 0.38
50 Chicago 84 21,967,951 31,690 14,948 17,702 64 0.36% 0.29
60 Philadelphia 141 4,370,722 32,675 28,617 23,790 155 0.65% 3.55
80 Raleigh 92 14,470,315 27,161 14,594 16,377 85 0.52% 0.59
85 Atlanta 55 1,597,260 22,407 17,828 9,394 43 0.46% 2.69
90 Jackson 55 3,544,018 20,037 8,898 9,474 16 0.17% 0.45
FY12Q1–FY12Q4 806 147,826,918 328,157 228,794 171,953 684 0.40% 0.46
 
FY11Q1–FY11Q4 807 145,194,717 318,060 223,617 128,064 503 0.39% 0.35


Last Modified: March 11, 2013
United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service