Card 08.02 Dairies

THE RISKS:

Muscles, upper limbs and backbone damages (due to manual transport of heavy loads)
Fall from heights (due to use of equipment at high height and in ripening warehouses)
Slipping and fall on the flat (due to wet surfaces and floors in dairy and on the farm vehicle bodies and stumble on detached pipes)
Electrocution (due to direct/indirect contact with uncovered electrical parts)
Cuts, bumps and crushing (due to operator coming in accidental contact with moving mechanical devices)
Hand and wrist damages (due to high-pressure water jet machine vibrations)
Back damages (due to vibrations during lorry transportation)
Poor hearing, tension and other disease (due to cream separator machine noise)
Respiratory diseases (due to chill caused by low temperatures and in winter during milk collection and during tasks performed outside)
Allergies and intoxications (due to dangerous products leak in the air and during chemical detergents use)
Skin and eye irritations and burns (operator coming in contact with chemical substances, such as caustic soda and nitric acid while washing equipment)

It is necessary to remind that:
Occupational diseases in dairies are well-known. During the last years, technology evolution contributed to create new generation equipment which help the worker to perform his/her tasks in safety if properly used.

PRACTICAL AND OPERATING INDICATIONS:

It is necessary to adopt adequate technical measures, such as:

substitute milk canister (60 kg) transportation with refrigerated tanker one;
use the metering pump linked directly to the fermenting vat to add whey starter culture in the vessel for decoction. In this way the operator shall no more lift pails of about 25 kg;
limit duration of the traditional manual curd making at the first part of the casein cut and then use the curd making machine to diminish the operator's back and arms overload;
keep an adequate liquid level in the vessel for decoction to help operator.

It is necessary to insert simple and efficient help which is welcomed by operators. During cheeses handling, it is necessary to use:

a lifting truck to lift cheeses (1 or 2 at one go);
a gantry crane or trolley created ad hoc for moving cheeses from salting room's vats;
automatic cheeses loader-unloader and automatic cleaner to put cheeses on shelves;
a suspended, sliding and manipulator pulley block which reduces the weight to zero and which is set on a gantry crane.

It is necessary to adopt adequate operating and precautional measures, such as:

operator shall make cheeses roll/slip instead of lifting them;
operator shall try to make small effort and keep the torso straight during the cheese introduction in the draining cloth, the cut and the right cheese positioning in the cloth;
operator shall be trained about mechanical equipment and right body positions;
the Company Physician shall visit regularly operators;
the employer must check lifting equipment is always used.

Rooms and depot milk areas shall be provided with:

washable floor (tile, resin, even cement etc) leaning to a drain fitted with traps;
washable walls (tile or other material) up to 2 m of height;
doors built or covered with washable material;
openable windows (big at least 1/8 of the floor surface), complete with mosquito nets to guarantee enough illumination and ventilation.

Lifting platforms shall always be clean and working material free.

Lifting platforms shall be provided with interlocking protections.

Floors and walkable surfaces shall be anti-skid.

Operator shall be provided with anti-skid shoes/boots.

Equipment shall be washed in close cycle wash systems.

In case of manual wash with chemical products, operator shall wear adequate P.P.E., that is goggles, gloves and apron.

It is necessary to check the protection degree of electrical equipment, the presence and functioning of automatic switches and earthing systems.

Electrical earthing systems shall be reported to ISPESL and AUSL, and must be checked every two years.

Vessels for decoction shall be powered at low tension safety.

Moving and uncovered parts of machines shall be protected.

During decoction phase, operator shall be extremely careful to arms and curd making machine rotations.

The churn shall be inaccessible when it is operating.

Automatic cheeses loader-unloader and cleaners shall be operated with careful attention (in case of locking machine intervention and when introducing cheeses).

The high-pressure water jet machine shall not be used for long time.

A vibration proof seat shall be installed on lorries (were it necessary).

The cream separator machine shall be isolated to reduce its noise.

Operator shall wear P.P.E. for ear's protection if he/she is next to noisy machines.

Employer shall provide operator with cold resistant clothes when the work is performed in winter.

The employer shall provide operator with suitable gloves and goggles which protect against detergent and chemical product effects and the operator must wear them.

The employer shall provide operator with FFP1 respirator if the air is musty while performing cheese manual cleaning in the depot, and the operator must wear it.

Operator shall not wear watches or bracelets to avoid entangling.

FURTHER INDICATIONS AND ADVICE

Lockers with two compartments shall be provided.
A locker room shall be provided. There can be only one locker room for both men and women in farms up to 5 employees, as long as shifts guarantee its separate use.
Locker rooms shall be provided with showers and hot water.
Operators performing manual load transportation, working with chemical products and exposed to noise/vibration shall frequently go and see the Company Physician.
Operator shall be trained and informed on healthy risks and adopted measures.
Operator shall be trained on machine, equipment and P.P.E. use.
AUSL shall conduct periodic checks on:
1. lifting machinery with a capacity > 200 kg;
2. lifting working bridge and surfaces.
Boilers for steam production with a pressure > 1 bar make the presence of a qualified boiler operator (with a temporary licence) necessary. Moreover, they need the ISPESL validation and the CE marking (if validated after 1996).