Lost Time Injuries in the Food Processing Industry for the Period (January 2010 to November 2010)

Anticipating what the hazards might be in your workplace is often a difficult task. One method is to extrapolate potential hazards from what has happened in your industry to others. In other words, learn from the misfortunes of similar organizations. In order to assist employers understanding of the types of hazards in the food processing industry, we have compiled this list of relevant recent injuries from information published by WorkSafeBC:

Injury Type : Amputated fingertips 

Core Activity : Food production
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2010128220110
Date of Incident : 2010-Aug
A worker reached into a forming machine during setup and inadvertently activated the start control.

Injury Type: Minor injuries (1 worker)

Core Activity: Brewery
Location: Central Interior
ID Number: 2010161970148
Date of Incident: 2010-Jul
A 32,000-litre fermentation tank containing about 29,000 litres of beer ruptured under pressure.

Injury Type: Broken finger, sore hand 

Core Activity: Bakery
Location: Lower Mainland
ID Number: 2010157560187
Date of Incident: 2010-May
Following a previous incident, a worker was attempting to show other workers that it would have been impossible for a worker's fingers to get near the moving rollers of the sheeter without tripping the safety bar located 6 inches from the rollers. When the worker replicated what the worker had done in the previous incident, this worker's hand was also drawn into the in-running nip points of the sheeter. (A sheeter is a machine used to spread dough. It has a small conveyor feeding a pair of press rollers, similar to an old-fashioned wringer washer.)

Injury Type: Sore hand 

Core Activity: Bakery
Location: Lower Mainland
ID Number: 2010157560186
Date of Incident: 2010-May
A worker's hand was drawn into the in-running nip points of the sheeter in a bakery. (A sheeter is a machine used to spread dough. It has a small conveyor feeding a pair of press rollers, similar to an old-fashioned wringer washer.)

Injury Type: Burns to Arms

Core Activity: Food Processing Plant 

Location: Lower Mainland 

ID Number: 2010140330009

Date of Incident: 2010-Mar

While changing fuses, a worker was exposed to an arc flash.

Injury Type: Close call 

Core Activity: Dairy product manufacture
Location: Lower Mainland
ID Number: 2010161480072
Date of Incident: 2010-Feb
A 20-pound piece of concrete fell from a concrete ceiling, narrowly missing a worker. The structural rebar in the concrete appeared to be rusting out.

Injury Type: Laceration and puncture injuries to fingers 

Core Activity: Meat cutting and packing
Location: Lower Mainland
ID Number: 2010145570021
Date of Incident: 2010-Feb
A worker's hand contacted the energized blades of a meat tenderizer. The interlocked safety cover was not functioning and the worker's gloved hand was drawn into the counter-rotating blades.

Injury Type: Injuries to hand

Core Activity: Non-alcoholic beverage manufacture
Location: Central Interior
ID Number: 2010161970006
Date of Incident: 2009-Dec
A worker was clearing a clogged bucket on energized equipment. The worker's hand got caught inside. the bucket as it rotated.

Injury Type: Close call

Core Activity: Poultry processing
Location: Lower Mainland
ID Number: 2009166940004
Date of Incident: 2009-Nov
A fire started in a storage building at a poultry processing facility. Two employees were in the building at the time, but neither was injured.

Injury Type: Serious injuries to hand

Core Activity: Food product manufacture
Location: Lower Mainland
ID Number: 2009161480218
Date of Incident: 2009-Sep
A worker's hand contacted the point of operation on a line collator.

Injury Type: Bruised arms, leg 

Core Activity: Food product manufacture
Location: Lower Mainland
ID Number: 2009158750177
Date of Incident: 2009-Sep
A worker was removing a cart loaded with frozen food from a walk-in freezer. As the cart was pulled down a ramp it turned to the side, tipped over, and struck the worker.

Injury Type: Partial amputation of finger 

Core Activity: Bakery
Location: Lower Mainland
ID Number: 2009147230186
Date of Incident: 2009-Sep
As a worker was clearing dough from a muffin depositor, the roller (dough dispenser) was inadvertently activated. One hand was near a hole in the roller. The roller turned a quarter turn, catching the worker's finger and pulling it into the machine.