If you work in the food and beverage industry, you’re no doubt acutely aware of the inherent risks to people, products and processes.
The Western Australian Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety recently published a health and safety snapshot of the meat processing industry. Many of the findings apply to the entire food and beverage industry.
WorkSafe’s Abattoir – Meat Processing Project aimed to raise awareness of common workplace hazards and risks, and improve work health and safety standards across the meat processing industry.
Findings
Of the 19 abattoirs inspected by WorkSafe’s regional, agricultural and industrial teams, there were 562 improvement notices, 6 prohibition notices and 73 verbal directions.
Of the businesses inspected, 35% had at least one Health and Safety Representative (HSR) and 53% had a Work Health and Safety Committee.
The top reasons for the notices were:
- Guarding of plant: 81 notices
- Provision of safe layout including floor demarcation: 52 notices
- Maintenance and inspection of mobile plant: 20 notices
- Emergency stops: 18 notices
- Labelled operational controls: 14 notices
- Knife management (systems of work for use and storage): 13 notices
- Bandsaw isolation: 13 notices
- Providing or maintaining First Aid equipment for hazardous chemicals: 12 notices
- Testing and tagging: 11 notices
- Obtaining and providing safety data sheets: 11 notices
Opportunities for improvement in food and beverage operations
Whether you work in the meat industry or other food and beverage operations, what should you do? Not simply to comply, but to keep people safe.
The project identified several opportunities for improvement that apply to the food and beverage industry as a whole, including:
- Adding appropriate guarding on plant
- Requiring pre-start checks to be completed before operating powered mobile plant
- Having compliant emergency stops – being accessible to all workers using the plant
- Labelling operator controls with its function
- Having administrative controls, such as signage, supervision and training, to alert worker to dangers of the plant they are using
- Maintaining plant to manufacturer’s instruction or when worn or damaged
- Ensuring operators are appropriately trained and licensed to use mobile plant
- Implementing a traffic management system where mobile plant is used
- Adding attachments designed and approved for the machinery
- Installing and using compliant, fall-restraint systems when engineering prevention systems cannot be installed
Teksal Safety’s solutions address many of these reasons for notices, helping support a safe food and beverage industry.
Machine guarding
Machine guarding issues included:
- Unguarded carcass conveyer chain sprockets
- Unguarded conveyor bearings and motors
- Unguarded or insufficiently guarded augers, hoppers and mills.
Teksal Safety’s machine guarding solutions
To help minimise risk to people, plant and process, as part of our machine and automation safety solutions, Teksal Safety provides machine guarding solutions for diverse applications, including the food and beverage industry.
Our Zone Safety Systems’ modular, reconfigurable perimeter guarding solutions:
- Are easy to install
- Have standard components
- Integrate with approved safety switches, sensors and interlocks for a comprehensive and safe machine guarding solution
Safe layout, including floor demarcation, labelled operational controls and washdown
Food and beverage production is one of the most demanding environments for workplace safety products and identification. Harsh washdown cycles, chemical sanitisers, and constantly wet environments present reliability challenges for the products designed to keep employees safe.
We address these types of safety issues to help you meet quality, productivity, and safety goals.
Through our channel partner, Brady, Teksal Safety provides a range of industrial safety products for clear and safe identification of hazards and facilities, including safety signs, industrial printing systems for DIY signs and labels, pipe marking, spill containment, and hazard controls. They ensure plant and equipment are safely isolated, enhancing operational safety and efficiency:
- Safety signs & labels
- Custom-made signs for any application
- Multiple condition signs
- Danger signs & labels
- Warning signs & labels
- Mine site signs
- Emergency signs
- Safety labels
- Metal, polypropylene, vinyl, Corflute
- Custom barrier tape
- Caution & danger barrier tape
- Heavy duty barrier tape
- Woven barrier tape
Washdown-resistant ToughWash™ signs, tags & labels
- Brady’s ToughWash™ materials are engineered to withstand the heavy-duty washdown cycles used in food and beverage processing
Emergency stops and automation solutions
Machine safety in the food and beverage industry can cause complex challenges in an already demanding environment.
Given continuous operation is critical, downtime caused by unsuitable solutions can significantly impact safety and productivity.
In hygienic or food-processing areas, systems have to withstand constant cleaning and temperature changes.
As part of our machine and automation safety solutions, through our channel partners, Fortress Safety and Pilz, we help prevent accidents and reduce risk in food and beverage facilities with tailored, robust, versatile, corrosion-resistant solutions.
Our solutions include:
Providing or maintaining First Aid equipment for hazardous chemicals
As part of our operations and maintenance safety solutions, Teksal Safety provides National Workplace Code of Conduct-approved First Aid kits, food and beverage manufacturing First Aid kits and wall-mounted and portable First Aid kits and refills.
Testing and tagging and energy hazard isolation
We also provide a range of isolation and work controls solutions via our partnership with Brady Australia.
As a Platinum Printing Partner (PPP) and lockout-tagout (LOTO) specialist for Brady lockout-tagout and tag printing systems, our energy isolation and safe work controls solutions include:
- Lockout-tagout supplies
- Lockout & isolation devices
- Safety signage
- Danger / caution tags
- Barrier tapes
- Scafftag equipment status solutions
For more information about how we help support a safe food and beverage industry, email sales@teksal.com.au.
