Safety in the workplace: Food processing plants

Advice on safety in the workplace from leading process equipment company, Acufill: Food processing plants and food manufacturing companies are faced with unique safety challenges. Employees need to work in confined spaces, function on wet flooring, move heavy materials, operate heavy machinery and industrial processing equipment and make safe use of harsh chemicals. Below are some of the plant safety challenges faced by food processing plants:

• Falling and slipping – this type of accident occurs more often than you would think. In the food processing and manufacturing industry, processing equipment used to handle raw materials often uses water. These types of accidents can be avoided by installing safety rails, non-slip flooring and providing employees with safety wear that deters slipping or falling.
• Industrial food processing equipment safety hazards – this is a challenge faced by the food processing industry. Working with such equipment can be dangerous in a number of ways and so the first step in avoiding accidents is to ensure each employee is properly trained in terms of equipment operation. Potential hazards include sharp blades, pinch points of moving machinery and the risk of rotating or moving components catching on clothing, etc. Make sure you have strict policies in place for working with equipment and purchase food processing equipment that is designed to be as safe as possible.
• Hazardous chemicals – chemicals don’t need to be dangerous, if they are handled correctly. In the food processing industry, harsh chemicals are required to keep facilities hygienically clean. It is vitally important that staff members are educated about safe chemical handling to avoid accidents.

Request a presentation on safe industrial food processing equipment

At Acufill, we stock a wide range of industrial food processing equipment. Each item of equipment we stock is designed and manufactured by global leaders in their field. In order to make safe and secure use of new processing equipment, it is important you are shown how to access all of the features and functions. If you are interested in any of our items of food processing equipment, we encourage you to request a presentation so that one of our friendly and knowledgeable consultants can provide you with a thorough demonstration.

To learn more about our extensive range of process vessels and mills, fluid bed dryers and other items of food processing equipment, contact us at Acufill today.