Health risk  in bakeries


Bakeries are not known for Major occupational health risk yet precautions should be taken to protect workers
, employees acquiring disease related to their work in bakery plant . manufacturing units should go for OSHA
18000 & ISO 14001 for better work environment and productivity .Consumer should also encourage with their
preference for product s which are produced with companies having such certification .

Major areas which may cause certain health risks in bakery are


Flour Dust ,Sugar dust ,Biscuit dust
Flour handling , loading and unloading areas , Vibratory sieves , Manual Dusting during process.Prolonged
exposure to flour dust may cause asthma , bronchitis .Similarly in case of biscuit dust and sugar dust while
grinding or manual addition of these ingredients .Mask and spillages should be avoided . Automated system
for flour handling to be installed to reduce flour dust .


Noise level
Noise level at certain area may cause deafness if workers are exposed to higher decibel levels for longer
duration .As per factory act decibels should be lower than 70.0 db .Ear buds or rotation of workers after every
4 hours can help reducing exposure to sound. Periodic maintenance and monitoring of sound level should be
implemented .


Odour
Odours of chemical and additives can be harmful for human. These chemicals should be kept in closed
container. Worker s can use face mask and gloves while performing task with chemicals


Ammonia
Ammonia is most common ingredients for bakery product but is harm full if inhaled in larger dose . Pungent
smell come out the moment ammonia comes in contact ambient temp. Even if presence ammonia vapours are
within permissible level in most of the cases it does not mean that we don't take precautionary measures .


Heat
Oven operators have risk of skin disease , breathlessness and other diseases in case of prolonged stay
without any precaution .Temperatures are around 50 -55deg centigrade around oven or baking area .
Sufficient ventilation system should be installed like exhaust fan , natural ventilation through roof etc .



Silos and Tanks
Raw material silos or sugar or liquid tanks or fuel storage tanks these needs to be cleaned periodically .
Workers should take proper precaution while performing this task as toxic gases are formed in these tanks
which effects health .



Insulation


Precaution should be taken while handling insulation in bakery plant as these can lead to allergies and skin
disease. Workers can wear protective coveralls or boiler suite with gloves while handling insulation .
Ointments are also available to remove itching while working with insulation's .



Other areas are related to stress on body part while performing feeding for packing machines or loading and
unloading heavier loads in Factory . Proper material handling should be provided for movement from one
place to another . Mechanical means should be provided for lifting and moving heavier items in bakery plants
.ie trolleys , pallet trucks , electric chain hoist , titling devices etc



Safety  risk   in bakeries


FIre  safety

Fire hazards  are  common  in bakeries  as  it have fire  hazards like  packaging material , flour , sugar , fat
and baked biscuits . In addition  to these  raw materials  there are  other  sources like  LPG  storage  tanks or
pipelines , LDO/HSD  storage  tanks and pipelines , Ovens   and Grinding processes . Safety precautions like
fire hydrant system should be in place  for bakery plant . Fire extinguishers , Lpg  gas detectors , smoke and
heat detectors   should be placed  in production  shop  and factory areas . Fire  drills must be conducted  
regularlt for workers .


Accidents risk

Cuts -  Most  of these occurs while  packing bakery product  like biscuit packing  or bread packing . Safety  
guard  should be placed  in such areas . Proper training  are must for workers  to  avoid accidents in bakery .
Guards on cutters  and  knifes   should be ensured


Burns

Handling  products  from oven  or  loading trays  to oven manualy or  unloading  trays  from oven  are prone
to such  accidents  proper  gloves   should  be  provided  to workers . Heaters  at packing machine  are also
major cause  of burns during packaging .


Slippage

Handling heavy   load  and material movement  with help of  pallet trucks  and  trolleys  also results  in
accidents

Accident log books should  be maintained in factory .  First aid box and a visiting doctors services should be
availed.  Emergency numbers should be displayed  all across the company .


















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Health  and safety risk in bakeries
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