Dairy industry offered slip and trip prevention advice

The new guidance, published by Dairy UK, recommends all dairies carry out internal surveys and risk assessments to determine hazardous areas and levels of risk.

The report could help drive down injuries due to slips and trips across the sector, which still represent nearly 30% of all lost time injuries. Dairy UK’s occupational health and safety committee chair Andy Melachrino claimed.

Highest cause of major injuries ​

“Slips and trips which result in a fall, are by far the highest cause of major reportable injuries and can have serious, and often life changing, effects on people’s lives,”​ he said.

More than one third of injuries in the food and drink industry are due to slips and trips in the workplace, according to the Health and Safety Executive.

The guidance contains practical tips and case studies to help review existing practices, ways of working and improve injury reduction strategies, Melachrino added.

“We are now considering what we can do next to help promote these practical measures, so watch out for further developments,”​ he said.

Dairy UK chief executive Dr Judith Bryans said the report outlined some key factors and best practice to minimise the likelihood of slips in trips in the workplace.

Essential ​

“It is essential that our colleagues in the industry develop their own risk assessments to ensure the safety of their staff,” ​she said.

“I’m very grateful to the members of the Dairy UK Occupational Health & Safety Committee for their ongoing efforts to enhance the wellbeing of dairy staff.”​

You can view the guidance here.​

Meanwhile, last week, a haulage firm was fined £150,000 after a worker died​ after falling from an unsecured ladder.

Keith Brookes, 59, died two years after the fall at Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club, while working for David Watson Transport Ltd.