Occupational health risks in food and drink manufacturing
This page explains how employers can control the main occupational health risks across food and drink manufacturing.
There is also industry guidance on food and drink manufacturing safety hazards, including slips and trips, falls from height, machinery, transport and dust explosions.
Musculoskeletal disorders
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in food and drink manufacturing are mainly:
- work-related upper limb disorders (persistent injuries like tenosynovitis and carpal tunnel syndrome resulting from repetitive tasks, for example on production lines)
- back injuries from repetitive or awkward lifting, for example on packing or production lines
Main causes of musculoskeletal injury
Most musculoskeletal injuries are caused by tasks which employers should consider when carrying out risk assessments:
- cutting, boning, jointing, trussing and evisceration (such as meat and poultry)
- packing products (such as cheese, confectionery and biscuits)
- stacking/unstacking containers (such as boxes, crates and sacks)
- handling drinks containers (such as delivery of casks, kegs and crates)
- pushing wheeled racks (such as oven racks and trolleys of produce)
You can find specific advice on handling roll cages, wheeled racks and other heavy units. This includes advice on mechanical or manual handling of unit loads (sacks, boxes etc).
Deciding if you have a problem
Injury and health problems show up in different ways, such as:
- cases of injury to backs and limbs
- aches and pains
- poor product quality
- high material waste
- low output
- frequent worker complaints and rest stops
- do-it-yourself improvements to work stations and tools (for example seat padding)
- workers wearing bandages, splints, rub-ons, copper bracelets or magnets
If you have a problem it could be costing money from sickness absence, high staff turnover, retraining, loss of production etc.
Managing the risk
You can manage the risk by:
- identifying tasks with a serious risk of chronic injury (for example from repetitive upper body work or frequent bending) and deciding which factors lead to the risk
- introducing mechanisation where this is reasonably practicable, such as automation, bulk handling, vacuum lifters
- where mechanisation is not possible, introducing measures to prevent injury, for example improved workstation design, job rotation, training, medical surveillance or job transfer
- ensuring unit weights are as low as practicable (not more than 25kg)
- avoiding heavy or awkward lifting movements (such as twisting)
- avoiding lifting at low level (for example consider self-raising pallet systems) or at high level above shoulder height (consider raised walkways)
- consulting fully with trade union or other employee representatives and workers on effective and workable solutions
Find out more
Manual handling solutions for the food and drink industries
Occupational asthma and rhinitis
Work-related asthma affects workers inhaling dusts which are respiratory sensitisers. Asthma is an extremely distressing and potentially life-threatening disease.
Bakers have one of the highest incidence rate of occupational asthma. Find out how you can protect them in our guidance on flour dust and risks for bakers.
Respiratory sensitisers include dust from:
- grain
- flour
- bakery dust
- egg protein
- fish protein
- wood dust
Workers involved in baking, milling, malting, fish processing and coopering are at particular risk.
Rhinitis
Dusts such as grain, flour, spices and seasonings can also cause rhinitis (runny or stuffy nose), conjunctivitis (watery or prickly eyes) and other irritant effects.
Managing prevention
Complying with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations provides a framework for managing health hazards:
- assess the health risk
- prevent exposure, if reasonably practicable
- provide adequate control, or if this is not possible,
- provide dust monitoring, health surveillance, examination of machinery and training
Find out more
Occupational dermatitis
Occupational dermatitis is one of the most widespread causes of ill health in food processing, especially in catering.
The main causes of dermatitis are:
- prolonged contact with water, soaps, detergents and disinfectants used in the food and drink industry
- contact with foods, including sugar, flour/dough, fruits (especially citrus fruits), vegetables, spices, fish and meats
- contact with rubber/latex gloves, chemicals and cleaners and some alcohol-based hand sanitisers or rubs
It can be prevented by adopting the following simple precautions. The costs of prevention are much less than those of a cure.
Find out if there is a problem
To help identify problems:
- find out if workers come into contact with agents which could cause dermatitis
- monitor sickness absence due to skin problems (if there is one case there may be more)
- investigate worker complaints and consult with safety representatives and employees
Decide what to do
Once you have decided there is a problem:
- identify the cause and how many people are affected
- remove the cause of the problem or substitute it for something better
- prevent contact in other ways such as wearing gloves (but remember some people are sensitive to latex and rubber glove materials and may require cotton-lined gloves)
- consider providing an after-work moisturising cream to replace lost natural skin oils
- consider other measures, such as job rotation
Monitoring
To make sure your approach is working:
- monitor the situation to ensure the control measures are effective
- consider the need to provide simple health surveillance by a responsible person to enquire about symptoms of dermatitis
Training and information for workers
An important element of prevention involves explaining to workers:
- the causes of contact dermatitis
- how to minimise the risks
- how to recognise symptoms
- the importance of reporting symptoms immediately
Find out more
Noise-induced hearing loss
Exposure to noise at work can cause irreversible hearing damage. It is one of the commonest health problems and can be difficult to detect as the effects build up gradually over time.
Noise levels
Most food and drink industries have processes which emit high noise levels exceeding the 80dB(A) and 85dB(A) levels at which employers are required to take action under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations.
For example, noise levels of 85-95dB(A) occur in the bakery, dairy and confectionery industries but can rise to 100dB(A) in milling, drink production and the meat industry.
The following processes are particularly associated with high noise levels:
- glass bottling lines: 85-100dB(A)
- product impact on hoppers: 90-100dB(A)
- wrapping, cutting wrap, bagging etc: 85-95dB(A)
- bowl choppers: over 90db(A)
- pneumatic noise and compressed air: 85-95dB(A)
- milling operations: 85-100dB(A)
- saws/cutting machinery: 85-107dB(A)
- blast chillers/freezers: 85-107dB(A)
- packaging machinery: 85-95dB(A)
- wheeled trolleys/racks (from wheel bearings): up to 107dB(A)
Managing the risk – the hierarchy of control measures
Protection is best achieved by controlling noise at source. Follow this sequence to reduce exposure – wearing hearing protection is the last resort.
- When purchasing machinery or plant, get noise data from the supplier to inform your decision. The noise levels should be relevant to where workers will actually be
- Move noisy machinery/plant into areas where there are no workers, or few workers (for example into an outbuilding or dedicated room)
- Where noisy machinery/plant has to remain in the working area, enclose it within a sound-insulating enclosure if possible. Anti-vibration machine mountings may also be required.
- Where enclosure is not possible, reduce noise by other engineering means such as:
- lining guards/panels with noise-dampening material
- providing acoustic screens
- lining the inside of hoppers with impact-deadening material
- fitting anti-vibration mountings
- fitting silencers to exhaust systems
- ensuring good maintenance to stop rattles and prevent noise from wear
- Where noise levels still exceed 85dB(A), ensure workers wear hearing protection (earplugs or earmuffs) within the designated and clearly marked zones
- Duration of exposure can be reduced by job rotation or providing a noise refuge
Find out more
Food hygiene
Food hygiene and food safety standards are overseen by the Food Standards Agency and not HSE.
Local authority environmental health officers enforce these standards in their local food factories and food retail premises.
However, HSE does have a role in ensuring food machinery is designed and manufactured to standards which take into account food hygiene and ease of cleaning.
If an environmental health officer comes across a machine that is poorly designed in terms of food hygiene, HSE officers are able to pursue this with the machine manufacturer.
Hygiene requirements for food machinery are set out in European Standard BS EN 1672-2, which you can find on the British Standards Institution website.
Find out more
Case studies
You can find food and drink industry case studies including some that were produced with the Food and Drink Manufacturing Forum.
There are also rehabilitation case studies for the food industry in the National Archives. They cover workplace injuries, with insights into causes, impact, and safety improvements.