There has been a further breakdown at the Meat Plant.
On Tuesday (March 19) it was discovered that a ‘safety function on the line had been bypassed’.
In a letter to producers, this was found ‘when the line misaligned and a hook broke’, Isle of Man Meats believe’s this has been a ‘historical bypass’.
This needs to be fixed to ‘run safely’, but due to the age of the equipment the original manufacturing company is now ‘defunct’.
Meat Plant solutions
In the letter, Isle of Man Meats says its currently seeking solutions and will update producers soon as it has a timeline.
At the time it said ‘that decisions on lairage will be made within the next day as timelines becomes clear’, Manx.News have not received any update on this.
In an attempt to reassure producers the plant says it is ‘seeking to fully review and understand all equipment in the business to move away from reactive repairs’.
Breakdown after breakdown
At the start of the month, the Meat Plant added to its breakdown toll, which resulted in 45 cattle being held in the lairage area for numerous days.
The holding of the animals was due to yet another machinery breakdown in the plant.
The cattle hoist encountered an “unexpected” malfunction during cattle processing.
In another letter to producers the Meat Plant claimed that it has a “comprehensive plan” where it will see the hoist repaired.
Isle of Man Meats said “this critical piece of machinery is currently unusable, which has disrupted our operations”.
Manx.News have contacted the Managing Director of Isle of Man Meats for comment on the latest breakdown, but at the time of publication, we have not received a response.
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