When you don’t need to worry about baking with flour in your kitchen, but you do in a commercial kitchen
What happened?
Coopland & Son (Scarborough) Ltd, a bakery, was investigated by the HSE, when it was found that over a 14 year period from 2002 to 2016, employees were consistently exposed to risks to their health, with some being medically diagnosed as suffering from occupational asthma. Flour dust is a respiratory sensitiser.
The HSE’s investigation found there was no effective method of control to prevent the dust becoming airborne and employees being exposed to breathing in the dust.
Legal Outcome
In the December 2018 court case, Coopland & Son (Scarborough) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £159,080 with costs of £4,594.
After the hearing, the HSE inspector commented: “Exposure to flour dust in an industrial setting can cause serious and debilitating health effects.
What can we learn from what happened?
A short case study to inform or remind readers that flour dust is a hazard, can cause serious health problems if breathed in over a period of time, especially in industrial settings, and is covered under COSHH.
Source of Information
SHP Online