Food manufacture - fruit and vegetable processing
Injury rate comparisons
Injury incidence rates (ie injuries per 100,000 workers per year) averaged for the three years 2004/05-2006/07 are as follows:
- Fruit and vegetable processing: 927
- Fruit and vegetable juice: 359
- Potato processing: 879
- All food and drink industry average: 1688
- All manufacturing industry average: 988
Main causes of injury
- Manual handling and lifting - especially heavy or awkward loads or sharp edges
- Slips and trips - mostly slips on wet floors also tripping over obstructions
- Being struck by objects - mostly from falling packages etc and use of
hand tools
- Falls from height - off stairs, ladders, work platforms and vehicles
- Striking against fixed and moveable objects, eg machinery, stationary
vehicles
- Machinery - mostly conveyors also packaging machines (bagging, form
fill seal and palletisers)
- Exposure to harmful substances - cleaning fluids (fume and splashes),
ammonia refigerant leaks
- Transport - mostly involving fork lift trucks
Main occupational ill health risks
- Musculoskeletal injury from manual handling boxes, sacks, wheeled trolleys
etc
- Work-related upper limb disorders (WRULDs), eg from repetitive sorting/packing
work
- Noise induced hearing loss from noisy machines, eg cleaning plant, packaging
machinery
- Respiratory irritation from breathing fumes such as chlorine, hypochlorite,
ammonia and sulphur dioxide
- Occupational dermatitis from handling fruits, vegetables and from chemical
cleaners
Preventing manual handling/musculoskeletal injuries
Around 30% of manual handling injuries and the greatest proportion of musculoskeletal
injuries (eg injured backs and work-related upper limb disorders (WRULDs))
result from lifting, carrying or moving boxes, containers or sacks of fruit
and vegetables. To reduce the risk of injuries, the following precautions
should be considered:
- mechanise where possible so as to avoid manual handling or, where this
is not possible:
- ensure unit weights are as low as practicable (not more than 25kg)
- ensure heavy or awkward lifting movements (eg twisting) are avoided
- avoid lifting at low level (eg consider self-raising pallet systems)
or at high level above shoulder height (consider raised walkways)
- ensure a manual handling risk assessment has been carried out for each
work station and appropriate precautions adopted.
Industry specific guidance
