Meat Inspector Trainee - District 3

Meat Inspector Trainee - District 3 (260004XV)

Position:
Meat Inspector Trainee with the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Division of Meat Inspection.

Location:

Fulton, Defiance, Henry, Paulding or Williams County, Ohio.

Ohio Department of Agriculture, Division of Meat Inspection.

Full-time with variable hours: 5 AM–1 PM or 7 AM–3 PM.

• Receive training and mentoring from a senior meat inspector and assist with inspections of registered meat plants, private and commercial slaughtering facilities, and custom-exempt red meat and poultry processing facilities.
• Learn and perform ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections of carcasses, enforcing state and federal sanitation, humane slaughter, meat processing, and food safety policies.
• Conduct visual examinations of live animals and poultry before slaughter, identifying abnormalities such as sickness, injury, or non-ambulatory condition.
• Contact veterinarians for the disposition of unhealthy animals and record results.
• Determine the age of cattle older than 30 months by dentition, wither checks, or radio-iodine tests, and remove the backbone if necessary.
• Perform visual, tactile, and/or incisional inspections of the head, lymph nodes, viscera, carcass, and offal to ensure a clean, wholesome condition.
• Inspect all equipment, facilities, and personnel to maintain acceptable sanitation levels, prohibiting use of unsanitary equipment until corrected.
• Halts production for poor sanitation or non-compliance.
• Ensure proper disposition of unfit and condemned products, enforce sanitary dressing procedures, and control carcass branding.
• Learn labeling requirements, review labeling materials, and assist with inspections of product formulations and quality-control programs.
• Check all meat product formulations for federal compliance and monitor inspection procedures to maintain consistency.
• Learn sampling procedures and assist a senior inspector with submitting product samples for microbiological analysis.
• Require meat slaughter plants to conduct microbial testing for generic E. coli to verify process controls against fecal contamination.
• Document verification results in the Public Health Information System (PHIS).
• Assist a senior inspector with other meat-inspection duties as assigned.
• Perform re-inspections of meat, poultry, and non-meat ingredients intended for further processing, and inspect critical control points to ensure compliance.
• Prepare, maintain, and monitor required records, reports, and formulations regarding product condemnations, retentions, sanitation discrepancies, and corrective actions.
• Assist in industry quality-control programs, analyze report deviations, travel and pay reports, and submit them through proper channels.
• Attend training courses, such as Incidence Command Systems and Inspection System Procedures including Homeland Security, and refresh seminars and on-job training activities.

• One course in animal science, agribusiness and/or food business management, or three months of experience in the livestock industry / industrial meat and poultry processing.
• One course in a biological science or chemistry subject (high school or college level).
• Must be able to provide own transportation.
• Food safety inspection skills are required.

ODA values its internal diversity and is committed to fostering an inclusive environment. The agency promotes respect, empathy, transparency, equality, and equal access.

• Competitive salary of $49,192–$59,821 per year.
• Medical coverage via the Ohio Med PPO plan; dental, vision, and basic life insurance premiums are free after one year.
• Paid time off, including vacation, personal, sick leave, and 11 paid holidays per year.
• Retirement through the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) and the Ohio Deferred Compensation program.
• Childbirth and adoption leave.
• Education and development opportunities.

A color-deficiency test will be administered before the interview; a failed test will disqualify the applicant.

Unusual working conditions include flexible hours or shifts, travel, overnight stays, weekend work, a rotating 6-month 2nd shift schedule, exposure to extreme temperatures, slippery surfaces, stairs or ladders, catwalks or power lift platforms, potential injury from animals or hand‑held weapons, animal waste and infectious disease, loud equipment such as split‑saw machines, captive bolt pistols, or firearms.

Linda Roberts – Linda.

Robertso.gov