Lesson 4 - Health and Safety

Globally, over 1 million people get injured at work every day according to statistics published by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Furthermore, over 7,500 people die each day from work-related accidents or diseases – that’s over 2.7 million every year. The majority of fatalities are from work-related disease, but fatalities in the workplace still account for over 1,000 deaths a day.

These figures are for all industries and occupations; thankfully, the brewing industry, in comparison, is much safer on average. Although there does not appear to be any recent global collation of H&S statistics for the brewing industry itself, annual reports from most brewing companies will highlight that injuries (and in too many cases, fatalities), still occur. Accidents not only cost money but damage brand reputation, destroy staff morale, cause loss of production, increase insurance costs, and often lead to prosecution.

Health and safety management makes good business sense and is morally the right thing to do. One serious injury is one too many.

Leading causes of injury and ill health in the drinks industry

While quantitative statistics on global injuries in the brewing industry are limited, the UK’s HSE (Health and Safety Executive) publishes the following with regards to the alcoholic and soft drinks industries:

Main causes of injury:

• Manual handling and lifting – especially kegs, casks and crates

• Slips and trips – half the injuries are from slips (90% on wet floors) and half from trips

• Being struck by falling objects, e.g. barrels, boxes, equipment

• Falls from height, e.g. off ladders, work platforms, stairs and from vehicles

• Machinery ­– mainly conveyors but also packaging machines, palletisers etc.

• Exposure to harmful substances (inhalation or skin contact), e.g. cleaning chemicals, hot liquids

• Transport – especially lift trucks

Main occupational ill health risks:

• Musculoskeletal injury from heavy manual handling, e.g. lifting casks, kegs, crates, sacks, and items of plant (equipment)

• Work-related upper limb disorders (WRULDs) from repetitive handling, e.g. sprains or strains from lifting boxes in small-pack packaging operations

• Noise-induced hearing loss from a loud plant, e.g. centrifuge, packaging operations such as cask / keg filling, de-crating / washing, bottling, canning, and other packaging machinery

• Occupational lung disease from exposure to grain and malt dust

The injuries listed above are the most common. Although they are regarded as highly likely, they tend to be of low severity – although not always. We will learn more about these terms under the risk assessment section.

We also need to consider events that are less likely but of higher severity. Reports published within the brewing industry on fatalities suggest they have arisen from the following:

• Fires

• Dust explosions

• Ammonia leaks

• Lack of oxygen (confined space / carbon dioxide exposure)

We will learn more about these four key risks later in this lesson.