Prioritising health and safety in food processing
Supporting a safe work environment is a top priority for any business, but is especially pertinent in an industry such as food manufacturing where the use of machinery and extreme temperatures is prevalent.
Of course, prioritising health and safety is – first and foremost – embedded in legislation. It’s also a moral responsibility, and makes sound commercial sense. Unsafe work environments can lead to production delays, machinery faults and, in turn, poor product quality. By contrast, a safe workforce is a productive and motivated one.
To really deliver best practice, businesses must create a health and safety culture that extends beyond simply meeting industry rules and regulations.
So, what’s the key?
Investing in culture and training
Much of the solution rests with ensuring that employees are equipped with the right knowledge, given appropriate support and, critically, are empowered to initiate positive safety improvements to their working environment, regardless of external influences such as time or financial pressures.
At Air Products, we are proud to have achieved ISO 45001 certification last year for all seven of our UK Air Separation Units (ASUs). This is the international standard for management systems of occupational health and safety (OHS). The investment in achieving certified status underscores the critical importance that Air Products places on ensuring that plant managers, operations and engineers support a robust and long-term approach to OHS. In the food sector specifically, this pro-active approach can help reduce product write-offs and recalls, improving efficiency and profit margins.
A top-down, bottom-up approach is central to this, with a robust training programme at its heart. Training promotes a commitment to uphold and prioritise safety standards at all levels of a business. It also ensures that health and safety is seen as non-negotiable, empowering staff with the essential knowledge to keep each other and their customers safe.
At Air Products, for example, we make sure that all employees are trained to the highest possible standard. Making safety our number one priority is more than just a mantra; it’s engrained in our ethos and culture. From production and supply chain to commercial and office-based positions, all employees are enrolled in annual training programmes (both online and onsite) to ensure that personal, customer, and community safety is never compromised. Training modules are developed at both a role-specific and corporate level, with employees allocated sufficient time around their responsibilities to complete their training.
Specifically, everyone who works across our certified ASUs is required to complete their Food Awareness training, from our administrative staff to our drivers and operators. This certification is refreshed every three years to ensure compliance with safety standards by giving staff the most up-to-date knowledge and skills to safely work with food grade gases.
Smart manufacturing and preventative maintenance
Having provided the UK’s food industry with food grade gases and technical expertise for over 60 years, Air Products also offers gas equipment inspections in line with BCGA (British Compressed Gases Association) guidelines. As well as training people, it is important for businesses to make sure that the equipment used at their facilities is appropriately maintained. Complex machinery can be prone to sudden and costly failures without regular inspection and service, which can also be hazardous to the operators working with production lines.
AI and the use of smart data has a role to play. Diagnostic sensors and remote monitoring, such as those found in Air Products Smart Technology systems, can help automate processes and reduce the need for manual intervention, therefore reducing the risk of accident and injury. Our technology also supports smart safety, by alerting users to unsafe practices and using advanced analytics to improve the traceability of key process parameters and their limits. Air Products Smart Technology can be retro-fitted to many of our cryogenic food freezing tunnels to ensure optimal safety as well as efficiency and product quality.
The complete package
Safety in food processing is paramount, and our commercial technology specialists are not only responsible for advising on the best gas solutions for our customers, but also on the best safety practices, providing practical and tailored solutions to optimise efficiency. A strong safety culture and a drive to zero incidents is of benefit to us all.
