Application
This unit covers the skills and knowledge required to recognise the symptoms of emergency diseases and conditions as might be seen during the performance of meat inspection procedures.
This unit is suitable for students undertaking meat safety (inspection) training and is a co-requisite for the post-mortem inspection and ante-mortem inspection Units in the Australian Meat Industry Training Package.
All work should be carried out to comply with workplace procedures, customer requirements and product specifications.
This unit applies to individuals who work under broad direction and take responsibility for their own work including limited responsibility for the work of others. They provide and communicate solutions to a range of predictable problems.
No occupational licensing, legislative or certification requirements are known to apply to this unit at the time of publication.
This unit must be delivered and assessed in the context of Australian meat processing standards and regulations.
Competency should be reassessed every five years.
Elements and Performance Criteria
Element | Performance criteria |
Elements describe the essential outcomes. | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. |
1. Describe the symptoms of the major emergency diseases as they relate to food animals | 1.1 Identify the major emergency diseases of food animals processed in Australia 1.2 Describe the impact of emergency diseases on the meat industry 1.3 Describe the symptoms of these major emergency diseases as they may be seen at ante-mortem 1.4 Describe the symptoms of these major emergency diseases as they may be seen at post-mortem |
2. Identify the reporting process for suspected emergency diseases | 2.1 Explain the responsibilities for reporting emergency disease suspects as set out in the enterprise’s emergency disease preparedness plan 2.2 Describe a meat processing enterprise’s responsibilities after reporting a suspected emergency disease outbreak 2.3 Explain the role of AUSVET Plan in controlling emergency diseases 2.4 Describe the potential impact of emergency diseases on the livestock and meat industry |
Evidence of Performance
The candidate must recognise the symptoms of emergency diseases and conditions which might be seen during the performance of meat inspection procedures.
The candidate must:
identify the major emergency disease risks to the food animal species relevant to the students duties
identify the symptoms of these emergency diseases
explain the reporting requirements when an emergency disease is suspected in livestock or carcases
explain the steps to be taken by a meat processing company in the event of a suspected outbreak of an emergency disease
explain the steps to be taken by regulators when there is a suspected outbreak of an emergency disease
Evidence of Knowledge
The candidate must demonstrate a factual, technical, procedural and theoretical knowledge of:
the major emergency diseases of food species animals
the symptoms of the major emergency diseases of food species animals
the reporting requirements when an emergency disease is suspected in livestock or carcases
the steps to be taken by a meat processing enterprise in the event of a suspected outbreak of an emergency disease and how they are to be implemented
the AUSVET plan and the role of regulators, companies and producers in the event of an the reporting requirements when an emergency disease is suspected in livestock or carcases
the steps to be taken by regulators when there is a suspected outbreak of an emergency disease
the enterprise’s emergency disease preparedness plan
Assessment Conditions
Competency must be demonstrated on the actual carcase and viscera of at least one species of food animal as well as from models or diagrams of the other food animal species. The species covered must include as a minimum cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry and kangaroos. Other food species could include any other species slaughtered or harvested legally in Australia for human consumption.
Assessment may occur in the workplace or in a suitable teaching environment.
A minimum of three different forms of assessment must be used. These should take the form of:
quiz of underpinning knowledge
identification of signs and symptoms of diseases in different species from images and diagrams
assignment
Assessors must satisfy the current standards for RTOs.
Foundation Skills
Foundation Skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit of competency.