Quarterly Livestock Humane Handling Inspection 

Data Documentation

Overview 

The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (7 U.S.C. 1901, 1902, and 1906) requires that the handling and 

slaughtering of livestock be carried out only by humane methods. Inspection Program Personnel (IPP) 

and Public Health Veterinarians (PHVs) perform Humane Handling tasks, issue noncompliance records

(NRs), and take enforcement action when appropriate. When conducting Humane Handling tasks, IPP 

and PHVs use the Humane Handling Activities Tracking System (HATS) to record the number of hours 

spent observing and verifying the humane treatment of livestock. 

This report represents a yearlong snapshot of Humane Handling activities at federally inspected 

establishments as recorded in the Public Health Information System (PHIS), Data Warehouse (DW), and 

HATS as of the report creation date listed in the heading of the data set. The report is posted on a 

quarterly basis and reflects data from the most recent four fiscal quarters. Each new posting will reflect 

the most updated data for all four quarters. The report contains three tables, presenting information by 

(1) district, (2) HACCP size, and (3) quarter. 

Additional information regarding Humane Handling can be found on the FSIS website.

Data Dictionary 

Data elements are listed in the order in which they appear in the dataset and are identical in all three 

tables.

• Number of Slaughter Establishments

o Definition: The number of federally inspected establishments that have slaughtered 

livestock in the past year. This does not include custom only slaughter establishments or 

state inspected establishments.

• Slaughter Volume (in Heads)

o Definition: The number of livestock head slaughtered at federally inspected 

establishments.

• Number of Suspensions

o Definition: The number of Humane Handling suspensions. This number includes 

suspensions and reinstatement of suspensions, which may be imposed for egregious

inhumane handling or slaughtering of livestock.

• Number of Notices of Intended Enforcement

o Definition: The number of Humane Handling Notices of Intended Enforcement (NOIE). 

An NOIE is given to an establishment prior to an enforcement action and gives the 

establishment the opportunity to demonstrate or achieve compliance.

• Number of Humane Handling Tasks Performed

o Definition: The number of Humane Handling tasks performed under the 04C02 task 

code.
• Number of Humane Handling Tasks Noncompliant

o Definition: The number of Humane Handling tasks conducted under the 04C02 task code 

that resulted in a noncompliance record.

• Percentage of Humane Handling Tasks Noncompliant

o Definition: This item is calculated by dividing the number of Humane Handling tasks 

noncompliant by the number of humane handling tasks performed.

• Number of Humane Handling Noncompliances

o Definition: The number of noncompliances recorded within noncompliance records 

(NRs) as a result of performing Humane Handling tasks. Note: For each task, no more 

than one NR may be generated. Each NR may contain one or more noncompliances 

found during performance of a single verification task. 

• HATS Hours

o Definition: The time in hours recorded by Inspection Program Personnel and Public 

Health Veterinarians in the Humane Handling Activities Tracking System while 

conducting Humane Handling tasks.