Alcoholic and soft drinks

Main causes of injury

  • Manual handling and lifting - especially barrels, casks and crates
  • Slips and trips - half the injuries are from slips (90% on wet floors) and half from trips
  • Being struck by falling objects, eg barrels, boxes, equipment
  • Falls from height - off ladders, work platforms, stairs and from vehicles
  • Machinery - mainly conveyors but also bottling machines, packaging machines, palletisers etc
  • Exposure to harmful substances - cleaning chemicals, hot liquids
  • Transport - especially lift trucks

Main occupational ill health risks

  • Musculoskeletal injury from heavy manual handling, eg of casks, kegs, crates, sacks and items of plant
  • Work-related upper limb disorders (WRULDs) from repetitive handling, eg in bottling halls
  • Noise induced hearing loss from noisy plant, eg casking/kegging, decrating/washing, bottling, canning and packaging machinery
  • Occupational lung disease from exposure to grain and malt dust
  • Occupational lung disease and nasal cancer from exposure to hardwood dust in coopperages

Industry specific guidance

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Updated 2023-06-15