The food & drinks industry: Make your workplace injury free

As you can imagine, the food and drinks industry isn’t short of risk factors that could lead to injury.

By Brown's Ladders & Ceilings.

Manual handing injuries, moving machinery, slips and trips on the floor… We could go on. But did you know that one of the main causes of injury in this industry is falls from a height?

Falls from height actually comprise 20% of fatal accidents in these busy industries, making them the third highest cause of fatal injury. Injuries range from broken bones, right through to the more serious fractured skulls and have a massive impact on work absences.

In fact, absences resulting from a workplace fall from a height in these industries sit at a staggering 230 over-3-day absences every single year! What makes these figures even more frustrating to employers, and those who are affected by falls, is that accidents of this kind are so easy to prevent.

With proper health and safety training and minimising the need to access height, these figures would reduce dramatically.

Common risk factors: Falling from a height

With workplace falls from heights becoming more and more common, the HSE decided to further investigate matters. They did this by analysing 150 falls from height accidents in the food and drinks industry. Here’s what they found:

Places where fall from height accidents occur: Ladders 40% Vehicles / FLTs 17% Machinery / Plant 10% Platforms 10% Stairs 8% Roof / False ceiling 7% Scaffold / Gantry 4% Warehouse racking 4% As you can see, there are a wide variety of risks in the workplace. Poor use of access equipment being one of the biggest risk factors, but all of the above could be easily managed.

Four ways to prevent workplace accidents

Prevent the need to access heights by designing operational processes on the ground level – for example plant and machinery checks.

When working from a height really is necessary, providing permanent, safe access options. If you can’t find anything on the market to give you the safe access you need, why not contact us here at Browns Ladders? We can design solutions for any of your access problems. You can read an example of how we designed a custom made solution for one company here.

Ensure workplace cleanliness to prevent slips and falls. Many slips on the stairs or on the workplace floor are due to spillages or contamination of food product. Proper footwear, which provides grip, is also important and may be able to prevent some of these slips Ensure all members of staff are properly trained in health and safety and that anyone using access equipment receives the proper training too. We offer a range of safety training courses at Browns Ladders. From Manual Handling, to Working at Heights Training and In House Ladders, Steps & Towers – we’ve got all your safety needs covered.

Enjoyed this? Read more from Browns Ladders Ceilings Ltd

Latest news

1

PM+M welcomes ten new apprentices for 2025 intake Lucy Field, Kate Walsh, Ellie Fisher, Zainab Aswat, Reece Jones, Aisha Bibi Patel, Finley Vila, Uzair Zariwala, Richard Prest, and Charlie Harrison

PM+M welcomes ten new apprentices for 2025 intake

11 Sep 2025

2

ROCCIA strengthens commercial division with senior appointment Andrew Grove

ROCCIA strengthens commercial division with senior appointment

11 Sep 2025

3

Final call for investors: Rossendale community solar project must hit target by November Gary McEwan managing director of Interfloor

Final call for investors: Rossendale community solar project must hit target by November

10 Sep 2025

4

Lancashire Combined County Authority unveil plan to Get Lancashire Working Lancashire Combined Authority

Lancashire Combined County Authority unveil plan to Get Lancashire Working

10 Sep 2025

5

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and BAE Systems’ FalconWorks announce strategic collaboration Collaboration between BAE Systems FalconWorks and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and BAE Systems’ FalconWorks announce strategic collaboration

09 Sep 2025

Background image for hub sign up block

LBV Hub

Leverage Lancashire Business View platforms

Post your news
Post your events
Post your offers
Build your network
Improve your SEO
Gain coverage in the magazine
Sign-up
Events
Sub36 Networking - Follow the signs
Sub36 Deaf Village Social1200
Networking
17 Sep 2025

Sub36 Networking - Follow the signs

The Deaf Village, Blackburn, BB2 5EN

10:00 - 12:00

LBV124 September/October Launch Event
MBP Arc Cinema Preston Opening 205
Networking
18 Sep 2025

LBV124 September/October Launch Event

The Arc Cinema, Preston, PR1 2BL

08:30 - 10:30

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course

Preston Campus, Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 17:00

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course

Preston Campus, Preston, PR1 2HE

08:00 - 17:00

Longridge Soap Box Derby
Screenshot 2025-06-10 090035.png.png
LBV Hub Fundraisers
14 Sep 2025 - 14 Sep 2025

Longridge Soap Box Derby

Berry Lane, Longridge, PR3 3WH

10:00 - 16:30

Preston Tech Connection - The Ultimate Tech Quiz!
Preston Tech Connection Sept 25.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
16 Sep 2025 - 16 Sep 2025

Preston Tech Connection - The Ultimate Tech Quiz!

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

18:00 - 19:00

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire
LBV Hub Networking
17 Sep 2025 - 17 Sep 2025

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire

Stanley House, Blackburn, BB2 7NP

11:30 - 14:15

Cumbria Business Expo 2025
https---cdn.evbuc.com-images-880461633-4862066883-1-original.20241022-110415.jpeg.jpg
LBV Hub Exhibitions
19 Sep 2025 - 19 Sep 2025

Cumbria Business Expo 2025

Carlisle Racecourse, Carlisle, CA2 4TS

09:00 - 15:00

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: September
Sept Freelancer (1).png.png
LBV Hub Networking
23 Sep 2025 - 23 Sep 2025

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: September

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

10:00 - 11:30

Your Business, Your Region: Making sense of devolution and Local Government Reorganisation
Chorley Council breakfast event new
LBV Hub Networking
23 Sep 2025 - 23 Sep 2025

Your Business, Your Region: Making sense of devolution and Local Government Reorganisation

Worden Hall, Leyland, PR25 3DH

08:00 - 11:00

Speed Networking with BNI
2.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
24 Sep 2025 - 24 Sep 2025

Speed Networking with BNI

Chorley Football Club, Chorley, PR7 3DU

16:00 - 19:00

The Marketing Meetup IRL: Lancashire - September
TMM Lancashire
LBV Hub Networking
25 Sep 2025 - 25 Sep 2025

The Marketing Meetup IRL: Lancashire - September

Chorley, PR7 2SL

18:00 - 20:00

Advertise with us

Reaching 50,000 members, our print, digital and event platforms offer a fantastic way to raise your business profile and help you grow.

Find out more LBV 123 Online Graphic
Subscribe now

Weekly news bulletin