The 2011 Master Chef competition reached its conclusion yesterday with Tim Anderson being declared champion. Throughout the competition we have seen the battle scars appear in the form of cuts and burns to the fingers and hands of the culinary gladiators. They probably regard these as the inevitable consequence of the task when embarking upon the challenge.
Cooking on an industrial scale brings the increased risk of serious injury as the machinery and equipment increases in scale. Whether is is mixing, cutting or heating food stuffs, precautions are necessary to minimise the risk of accident and injury.
The health and safety journals are filled with stories of prosecution in the wake of an industrial accident. These are sometimes as a result of unexpected start-up of machinery during maintenance or clean-down.
As a practitioner of safety solutions and equipment, it is frustrating to read these accounts with the knowledge that they could have been so easily avoided.
A simple safe isolation or 'lockout tagout' procedure can negate all risks associated with working on industrial food manufacture machinery. Fixing a multi-lock hasp and a safety padlock on the main isolating switch will prevent the equipment being switched on while worker are carrying out maintence or cleaning work.
The cost of implementing safe isolation procedures is negligable when compared to the costs of litigation in the wake of an accident.
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