In the food and drink industries machinery and plant causes:
Analysis of injuries investigated by HSE in the food and drink industries over a four year period highlighted the main types of machinery involved:
Possibly due to its large population, conveyors cause more injuries (30%) than any other type of machine.
Analysis has shown that 90% of conveyor injuries occur on belt conveyors; and 90% of the injuries involve well known hazards such as in-running nips, transmission parts and trapping points between moving and fixed parts.
Also 90% of accidents occur during normal forseeable operations - production activities, clearing blockages etc.
Guidance on guarding conveyors can be found under Further guidance below.
When purchasing new machinery it is important to:
Further information can be found under European CEN standards and Further guidance below.
The European Standardisation Committee (CEN) has produced a number of European CEN 'C' standards which set out safety requirements for certain types or groups of food machine. If there is a published standard relevant to a machine you are purchasing, this should be specified in the purchase contract. Some standards are still being drafted.
CEN 'C' standards implement the more generic requirements of harmonised CEN 'A' and 'B' standards. 'A' standards are the basic standards which apply to all machinery, an example being BS EN ISO 12100-2:2003, Safety of Machinery - Basic concepts, General principles for design. 'B' standards are group safety standards dealing with one aspect such as electrical parts of machines, or one type of safety-related device such as two-hand control devices.
A 'CE' mark on a machine is a claim by the manufacturer that the machine is safe and complies with the Essential Health and Safety Requirements (EHSRs) of the supply law (for example by complying with the relevant CEN standards). However machine purchasers still need to check the machine is actually safe before use and check the EC Declaration of Conformity provided with the machine.
Existing machinery is subject to the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998. This requires machinery to be suitable for its purpose, properly maintained, and safe to clean and use.
The CEN standards referred to above should be used as a benchmark for existing machines. Where the standard of safeguarding is found to be lower than for new machines, a risk assessment should be carried out to see if it is reasonably practicable to upgrade the guarding.