Tomato Sauce Story

A food production company identified a sudden rise in slip accidents after changing a food production line. The new product was a tomato sauce. The floor at the factory was painted red and contamination from the new tomato sauce product could not be seen by workers.

In the short term the company repainted the floor in a colour that contrasted the colour of the tomato sauce. Pedestrians could easily spot any sauce contamination of the floor. Spillages could be seen and dealt with quickly by cleaners and the contrasting colour made it easier to do a thorough cleaning job.

In the longer term the company set about at redesigning the machines and the way that they were used in order to reduce spillage. Drip trays were introduced to further reduce the risk of slippery contamination getting onto the floor.

The costs to the company were quite small - floor paint, drip trays, changed methods on the production machines - but led to a noticeable reduction in slipping accidents.