Tackling hazards in food packaging manufacturing

This customer employees over 2,000 staff across a number of locations worldwide, with over 100 working in the production and maintenance teams at its facility in the Midlands. When issues with PPE came up during a conversation with the latter, the key account manager at RS Safety Solutions offered to speak to the site’s new health and safety manager.  

The most pressing challenge lay with the gloves. After looking at the company’s risk assessment, the account manager immediately spotted a gap between the level of PPE required and the level of protection being provided. The risk assessment called for level five gloves, for the highest level of cut (this was on their understanding based on old testing with the new ISO 13997 which grades the gloves using letters A-F with F being the highest), but the ones in use were only mid-range cut resistant gloves. “There were also different brands and styles of gloves,” adds the account manager. “There was no consistency and there were issues with heat protection and water ingress as well.” 

The account manager made some initial suggestions for improvement but recommended bringing in a specialist to carry out a site survey. The customer agreed, so the account manager arranged for PPE provider Globus to visit the facilities. 

“They went in and looked at all the risks on site and the hazards for the operators using the gloves,” he says. “Globus then put together a report with their recommendations for gloves with the right level of cut resistance and tackling the issues with water ingress and heat resistance.  

“The manufacturer also provided samples and feedback forms so the customer could run trials.” 

As well as the new gloves providing the right level of protection, feedback from the customer is that they are lasting longer too. At the same time, consolidation of supply means less time and resources spent sourcing and processing orders and invoices.  

As a result, the customer is pleased with the standard and longevity of the gloves. Even more importantly, the customer now has the confidence that the gloves meet their risk assessment and safety needs – and, as the account manager notes, “In line with ISO 14001 standards, they can demonstrate their commitment to containing hazardous incidents.” (This relates to the spill control survey and solution implementation and not the gloves). 

On the back of this success, the customer has worked with the account manager and the RS Safety Solutions team to improve other aspects of on-site health and safety. “We arranged an audit of spill control across the site,” says the account manager. “The results identified issues with the walk time to obtain spill control so we suggested that the customer create multiple spill stations on the factory floor, rather than storing materials in boxes in a back room. Now staff can control and clean up spills much more quickly.” 

Similarly, when the customer’s previous provider of hand hygiene products exited the UK market, the account manager facilitated a full site survey from another major supplier. In this case, the resulting recommendations have generated immediate tangible savings.

The positive improvements won’t stop here, he continues: “They value our input and want to roll out the same hand hygiene product and dispensers elsewhere.” This will lead to further savings without affecting safety – an ideal scenario for any customer.