ABOUT THE JOB

EDUCATION & TRAINING SALARIES AND BENEFITS

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Industrial Meat Cutters prepare meat, game, and poultry for further processing, packaging or for marketing. By learning and practicing safe meat cutting and slaughtering practices the worker will be contributing to the pro-duction of quality products for distribution and sale of one or more animal species, including: beef/veal, pork, lamb, poultry, and farmed game.

Industrial Meat Cutters will mostly learn from co-workers and on-the-job experience. They may take meat cut-ting or food processing courses provided by colleges, industry organizations or their unions (when unionized).

Industrial Meat Cutters are in high demand throughout Canada! Many companies provide full-time employ-ment and competitive salaries with full benefits.

• Potential candidates may work as Industrial Meat Cutters without previous industry training, but there are specific meat cutter college programs throughout the country.

• Employers generally require a high school diploma and provide on-the-job training.

• Training in HACCP and other food safety regulations may be required.

Industrial Meat Cutter plays a central role in meat processing plants and in doing so they are responsible for a variety of tasks. Some key responsibilities include;

• Working in various stages of meat processing from slaughtering the animals, cleaning the carcasses, cutting it into required meat cuts and packaging the cuts to meet client specifications• Reading and processing labels and packages, filling order forms, and basic measurement and estimation of cuts of meat. • Using scanner for organization and filling of orders.• Communicating orally to customers, employers, quality assurance personnel, and government inspectors.• Referring to diagrams and charts of cuts of meat and animal anatomy.• Analysing different products and filling special order requests (i.e. meat cuts) to suit the needs of the customer.• Documenting animal data such as identification numbers, weight, and farm information.

• Wages depend on job requirements, work conditions, and can vary between regions.

• Wages can range from $13 to $21 per hour.

• Meat processing plants generally offer full-time employment, opportunities for overtime and comprehensive benefit packages including; medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, pension plan, sick days and more.

1 Job Description Series For Food Manufacturing © Food Processing Human Resources Council

INDUSTRIAL MEAT CUTTERJOB DESCRIPTION

THE IDEAL WORKER

WORK ENVIROMENT

ESSENTIAL SKILLS

An Industrial Meat Cutter in a meat processing plant will be expected to:

• Create and maintain an efficient, hygienic, and positive working environment• Promote health and safety in the workplace• Display good work ethic, resourcefulness, and organization. • Understand the Standard Operating Procedures and Inspection Regulations• Ensure quality control and efficient work flow• Display positive leadership

Industrial Meat Cutters work in a fast-paced, physically demanding, and high production setting, where there is a level of automation and time frame requirements. While working in various stages of processing from slaughtering the animals, cleaning the carcasses, cutting carcasses to specialized cuts to meet organizational and customer specifications they also maintain a sanitary work environment.

Appropriate protective equipment is required as workers use extremely sharp and powerful cutting tools. Noise levels can be quite high in a processing facility so it is crucial that universally understood hand signals are used to ensure safe and effective communication among workers to prevent the damage of goods or personal injury. Working in refrigerated rooms between 2 to 4 degrees Celsius for extended periods is common.

Essential Skills are the skills needed for performing day to day tasks, learn the job and adapt to workplace change. Industrial Meat Cutters need all 9 of the essential skills however the most important are:

Numeracy (measurement, estimation and calculation): Numeracy refers to the skills needed to make sense of and apply mathematical concepts and information. For example, Industrial Meat Cutters weigh cuts of meat to determine if they are within weight specifications. They also estimate the weight of an animal to determine how it should be handled in the holding chute and when hoisted. Up to three people may be needed to assist.

Working with others: Working with others refers to the skills needed to interact with other people (one or more). At work, people work with others in pairs and in small and large groups to coordinate tasks, share resources, plan, make decisions, negotiate, solve conflicts and complete other activities that involve teamwork. For example, Industrial Meat Cutters participate in formal discussions about work processes or product improvement.

2 Job Description Series For Food Manufacturing © Food Processing Human Resources Council

INDUSTRIAL MEAT CUTTERJOB DESCRIPTION JOB DESCRIPTION

CAREER PATH

As new industrial meat cutters gain experience they can advance from wrapping, to assistant industrial meat cutters, to industrial meat cutter, to meat inspector, to team lead, to supervisor and finally to meat processing plant manager. Team lead, supervisor and manager will have additional job responsibilities such as supervising employees, communicating with senior management, scheduling production, and ensuring workplace safety.

OTHER POSSIBLE JOB TITLES

Beef Boner

Ham Cutter

Meat Trimmer

Poultry Preparer

Slaughterer

NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION (NOC)

The NOC for industrial Meat Cutter is NOC 9462 Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry

preparers and related workers

MORE INFORMATION

For access to more food manufacturing job descriptions, essential skills profiles and job competencies visit www.fphrc.com

3 Job Description Series For Food Manufacturing © Food Processing Human Resources Council

INDUSTRIAL MEAT CUTTERJOB DESCRIPTION

CAREER LADDERWrapper of meatProducts

Assistant IndustrialMeat Cutter

Industrial MeatCutter

Production LineTeam Lead

Production LineSupervisor

Meat ProcesingPlant Manager

196 Food Processing Human Resource Council (FPHRC) National Occupational Standard for Industrial Meat Cutter