Meat&Poultry - December 2011 - 74

Sanitation Tips (Consejos Sanidad)

Hazardous duty
Sanitation workers face a number of dangers while performing their jobs
BY KIMBERLIE CLYMA
kclyma@sosland.com

he US Dept. of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) mission is to keep workers as safe as possible in all types of work environments. In order to assist with this challenge, OSHA has developed a wide variety of guidelines to help employees stay safe while performing various jobs including those in poultry processing facilities. OSHA’s “Poultry Processing Industry eTool”, found on its website at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/ poultry, outlines potential hazards throughout poultry processing plants and makes suggestions about how they can be controlled. According to OSHA, the job of a sanitation worker is one of the most hazardous jobs in the poultry-processing industry. Whether the sanitation workers are part of a regular production shift or part of a special sanitation or cleaning crew, they need extensive training. The focus of sanitation workers who work a regular production shift is cleaning the machinery and floors. They move product to allow cleaning and use high-pressure water hoses and squeegees to clean the floors. This type of job is frequently an entry-level position. Workers who hold these jobs do not have the experience needed to be familiar with

the many hazards of the equipment and the environment in which they work, which is another reason that training is essential. The daily sanitation or clean-up crew has the responsibility of cleaning all product contact surfaces throughout the plant to comply with US Dept. of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service requirements. When the sanitation crew has to remove guards or components to effectively clean processing equipment, the equipment must be isolated from its energy source(s), and the energy isolation devices must be locked out or tagged out. In some situations, the equipment must be turned back on for a limited period of time for testing or repositioning. During the testing or positioning period, a sequence of steps must be followed to maintain the employee’s protection. Once the testing/ positioning activity is completed, the equipment again must be de-energized and locked or tagged out before undertaking further cleaning activities. An additional condition that may contribute to the hazardous nature of the work is that the crew may receive eight hours of pay regardless of how early they fi nish the job. This gives them an incentive to work as fast as possible and may even contribute to taking short-cuts such as not locking or tagging out equipment. It’s im-

portant to thoroughly train those in charge of sanitation and make it clear that short-cuts are not acceptable or tolerated. Some of the safety and health hazards that sanitation workers are exposed to throughout the plant include: ● Cuts, lacerations and amputations when removing blades from equipment. ● Being struck by, struck against or caught in equipment, such as chiller paddles, or when climbing over or under equipment. ● Slips, trips and falls (whether from ladders or climbing on equipment), slipping on wet surfaces or tripping over drain covers that have been removed and not replaced. Strains, sprains, and/or fractures may result. ● Electric shock, which can be an increased risk in poultry processing plants because of the wet environment. ● Chemical hazards, such as cleaners, can cause skin or eye irritation or burns. ■
M&P’s Sanitation Tips are to be used only as guidelines for cleaning and sanitizing processing facilities. Specific issues and questions should be addressed to a sanitation crew supervisor. We would like to hear from you – to comment on this story or to request reprints, contact us by e-mail at: meatpoultry@sosland.com.

74 • Meat&Poultry • December 2011 • www.MeatPoultry.com

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Meat&Poultry - December 2011

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