John Richard William Kiriona-Hodge gave evidence at a hearing in the Launceston Magistrates Court on Monday, after JBS Australia Pty Ltd pleaded not guilty to reckless conduct category 1.

As part of Mr Kiriona-Hodge's job in the offal room, he would load a basket with tripe and hit a green button for the machine to lift the tripe into a tub of hot water to cook.

Bleach was used to prevent the tripe from getting stuck around the rim of the tub, but the court heard the process was phased out about eight months before Mr Kiriona-Hodge's incident.

Mr Kiriona-Hodge said tripe would get stuck in majority of loads after the bleach was removed, forcing workers to manually dislodge it.

A pole and step were provided to assist in the process, but Mr Kiriona-Hodge said it was common practice for workers to get up on the tub to push the tripe into the cooker and many supervisors saw him do it.

On November 23, 2016, Mr Kiriona-Hodge's left leg slipped into the burning hot water while he was standing on the tub trying to dislodge tripe, with the victim being forced to put his right leg in the water to get his balance and get himself out.

He ran to his colleagues screaming and they started pouring water on his burns.

JBS disputes it was reckless, with the company's lawyer Steven Russell arguing there would need to be prior knowledge employees were getting on the tub to dislodge the tripe, and a realisation that it would probably lead to serious injury occurring and the company proceeded regardless of the risk.

Mr Kiriona-Hodge's offal room colleagues Steven Clarkson and Nicholas Haywood also gave evidence during the hearing, with both men telling the court they would stand on top of the tub to dislodge tripe when necessary.

JBS Longford plant manager Vernon Piwari, kill floor supervisor Brendan Pulford and leading hand Luke Blackberry all denied knowing workers were standing on the tub if they couldn't remove the tripe while standing on the ground or step.

The court heard management were told there was an issue with tripe sticking to the tub nearly six months prior to Mr Kiriona-Hodge, with Mr Blackberry trialing different water temperatures to reduce the issue.

"I did everything to the best of my ability to try and fix that problem," Mr Blackberry said.

JBS previously pleaded guilty to failure to comply with health and safety duty category 2 and duty to consult workers. Proceedings were adjourned to December 17.