Factory Health and Safety training

The Manufacturing environment can be amongst the most hazardous within the workplace, therefore to ensure employees and others are not put at great risk to their safety it is important to ensure they are suitably informed of all the hazards their may encounter whilst at work. Practical solutions and raising hazard awareness are the key features of this module.

In excess of 3.2 million people are employed in the manufacturing sector in the UK. The industry reports around 26,000 injuries annually to the Health and Safety Executive that are as a result of work practices. Around one fifth of these injuries are of a very serious nature, with some 35 or so on average being deaths.

The manufacturing sector in the UK includes the following industries: engineering; printing; laundry and dry cleaning services; paper mills; leather and footwear industries; motor vehicle repair; cement works; ceramics industry; concrete production; rubber production; the plastics industry; quarry production; the textile industry; the woodworking industry; refractories; surface engineering; waste and recycling; stonemasonry; heavy clay and brick production; molten metal production; and glass and glazing.

The hazards facing any manufacturing environment are many. They differ from industry to industry, and some present greater risks than others, but none of the industries are free form potential hazards. The plastics industry, for example suffers from the occupational hazard of workers breathing in plastic fumes, which can cause respiratory irritation.

Quarrying is one of the most hazardous industries to work in. Accidents occur from many causes, though they are mainly from slipping and tripping, as well as from falls from high places. The laundries and dry cleaning industries may appear relatively safe to work in, but they have their share of problems too. These are mainly from respiratory irritations from the fumes of the chemicals used in cleaning, as well as the usual slips and trips. The repetitive nature of the work can also contribute to work related limb disorders.

Some industries can face potential hazards that are more spectacular and usually more dangerous too. Working with molten metal, if all the safety checks have been strictly adhered to, is generally safe. However, if water is allowed to enter the process the molten metal can explode dramatically, often resulting in serious injury and even death.

The manufacturing industries cover a wide spectrum of differing working practices. Factory or workplace safety, while having many elements in common, has to deal with specific potential hazards and risks that occur because of a particular manufacturing process. Health and safety in any working environment depends largely on proper training. This on its own is not enough though. It is also necessary for management to enforce and encourage safe working practices at all times.