Canadian Poultry Magazine

St. Helen’s Meat Packers Leads industry with Driver Training Requirement

By OFAC   

Features Profiles Researchers

June 24, 2010 – St. Helen’s Meat Packers, a family-owned meat packing and processing company in Toronto, has become the first company of its type in Ontario to mandate Certified Livestock Transportation (CLT) courses for all livestock transporters delivering to its facility.

June 24, 2010 – St. Helen’s Meat Packers, a family-owned meat
packing and processing company in Toronto, has become the first company
of its type in Ontario to mandate Certified Livestock Transportation
(CLT) courses for all livestock transporters delivering to its facility.

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Drivers
will have to have successfully completed a CLT course if they want to
continue delivering livestock to the plant in Toronto.

The
CLT course is offered in Ontario by the Ontario Farm Animal Counci l
(OFAC). CLT provides a common sense, fact-based approach to training
that gives professional livestock transport drivers the information and
tools they need to provide quality care and handling to the livestock
they are entrusted with in transit. The course focuses on promoting the
well-being of livestock during moving and transport – thus improving
animal welfare and reducing losses and injuries.

Drivers
must take a one-day course and then successfully write an exam before
being certified. The courses are taught by OFAC’s Livestock
Transportation Specialist Dave O’Rourke who has four decades of
experience as a driver and as a fleet owner.

Dr.
Andy Muallim, Director of Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs for St.
Helen’s Meat Packers, said that the course fits well with the company’s
slogan of “The sign of quality.”

Said
Muallim, “Healthy animals arriving at our facility means a better
quality product which benefits all sectors of the industry from farmer
to transporter to processor and ultimately to the consumer.” He added,
“We’re extremely supportive of adopting any initiatives that help to
enhance the humane handling of livestock.”

O’Rourke
commended St. Helen’s for its leadership in making the announcement
requesting all drivers to be trained and certified in the CLT program.
The goal is to have the program mandatory within a year.  Said
O’Rourke, “The CLT course demonstrates to the public that the livestock
industry is being proactive in improving livestock handling and
transportation.”  He concluded, “The course also raises the
professionalism of our entire industry.”

Drivers wishing to enroll in the day-long program should contact O’Rourke at 519-565-4111 or dave@ofac.org

 The
Ontario Farm Animal Council is the voice for animal agriculture,
representing over 40,000 livestock and poultry farmers, associations
and businesses on issues in animal agriculture such as animal care,
food safety, biotechnology and the environment.


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