What Materials Do You Need to Keep a Food Processing Plant Safe
In any commercial production company, there are certain precautions that need to be set up. Protecting workers is the key to your success as a company, because without them, you would have nothing! Any processing plant can be somewhat hazardous, so safety design is essential to keeping your workers happy, healthy, and protected. So what materials do you need to keep a food processing plant safe? There are several things to identify and work with to create a safe environment for not only your workers, but also for your products, and the consumers.
Processing Plants
A food processing plant is a place where food is commercially processed for human consumption. This can be anything from hotdogs to cereal! This can include baking, freezing, boiling, packaging, and more. A large food processing plant can produce millions of products each year, which requires a lot of machines and a lot of manpower. There are several aspects of processing plants that require safety design and materials to keep the food and the people safe.
Food Safety
In each processing plant food safety differs based on the type of food being processed, but some standards can influence every kind of food processing. See what might work best for your specific circumstances, but keep looking for what might be able to adapt to your work environment and situation.
Temperature Safety Design
For example, in meat or dairy-based plants, temperature is extremely important to avoid spoilage or undercooking the food. This can lead to serious illness for consumers or also damaged products and recalls. Keeping things cold enough or hot enough is essential. A good product to help with this is vinyl strip doors. These are thermal barriers that help keep cold places cold and hot places hot. It also helps avoid the spread of airborne germs, dust, and reduce static cling.
Contamination
A very important part of food safety in a processing plant is that of keeping the food clean and free of bugs, dirt, and other contaminants. This is important in every kind of food processing plant. If you are asking what materials you need to keep a food processing plant safe, you need to start with products that keep your workplace clean. Environmental partitions and barriers are a great start for this. Making sure that your employees wear clean uniforms and are wearing other safety wear like gloves and hair nets will help keep your food from becoming contaminated. Making sure that excess food, dust, and other residue are removed from the plant is important as well. Keeping your processing plants clean will definitely help keep your plant safe.
Machinery Safety
One of the biggest hazards in food processing is machinery. Depending on the plant, there are various machines that crush, bake, shape, mix, package, and process food. These machines are often large and have fast-moving parts. In every processing plant, ensuring that you know the specific safety design of your machinery is absolutely necessary. Follow every safety precaution you have in place so that your machinery does not injure your workers or contaminate your food. Another way to increase machinery safety is to use safety screens or other separation management materials to help keep the machines separate in your processing plant. Anytime you have heavy machinery, you may also have fire or spark hazards, sometimes they could drip oils or other byproducts, and other things that could cause problems in your processing plant. Be sure to know what your machines need and what other precautions you may need to put in place.
Noise Safety
Another part of safety for processing plants is noise reduction and containment. Noise hazards are actually very dangerous, and there are specific rules through OSHA for how much loud noise is allowed in the workplace. If the noise levels are too high, it can cause hearing loss, high blood pressure, lack of sleep, and other health issues. There are several ways to help contain and prevent loud noise in a food processing plant.
Screens and Panels
Areas with loud machinery can be separated or contained through the use of acoustic screens and fiberglass panels, which contain and disperse soundwaves. This protects workers and helps prevent sounds from echoing around the entire processing plant. These materials help keep your food processing plants safe.
Ceiling Baffles
A great way to reduce noise in your processing plant and still make the most of accessible space is through ceiling baffles. These are highly customizable noise reduction panels that hang from the ceiling. This is usually an area that is out of the way, which means that you don’t have to lose precious internal space to put them in your plant. You also can choose ones that work best for your specific setup. These can absorb a lot of sound, prevent reverberations, and can actually increase communications between workers.
Acoustic Foam
Another great noise reduction material is acoustic foam. This material is so versatile and can be placed in almost any setting around your processing plant. You might place it around doors or around noisy machinery, or cover the walls with it. The possibilities are endless with acoustic foams, which means that you can make almost any processing plant up to health standards with a fast option that is adaptable to your setup.
Safety for Your Processing Plant
When you are asking yourself what materials you need to keep a food processing plant safe, remember that it has a lot to do with what your plant processes, but that there are many options to increase safety. If you want to know what would be beneficial for your plant, speak with our experts! We would be happy to recommend materials for your specific needs, and help you order what works best for your specific situation. Remember that safety is essential, not just for the sake of your employees, but also for the consumers that will enjoy your amazing products.
