Industrial safety in the food and beverage industry

The two tenets of industrial safety

In the Canadian food and beverage industry, safety is paramount. What first comes to mind when the words "food and beverage" and "industrial safety" meet is the hygiene of food manufacturing as we concentrate on our duty to protect the safety of the consumer and the public. However, one of my favourite blog posts in recent years was by ABB specialist Daniel Strigard who reminds us that “the food and beverage industry in the US has one of the highest incidents of job-related injuries or illnesses, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.” He goes on to say that “management has a legal and moral obligation to safeguard the health of its workers.”

You can read the post here: Safety in the food and beverage industry

Protect the product, protect the people.

At Proax Technologies we know you can do both. Why would we not focus on both the protection of the consumer as well as the production associate at the same time? As Proax industrial safety specialist Doug Critch (FS Eng - TÜV Rheinland, #13525/ 16, Machinery) says, “Protect the product. Protect the people.”

In that industrial safety vein, Proax Technologies is proud to be the Canadian distributor of Troax’s stainless steel fencing known as Blueguard. This Italian-built product combines safety, flexibility and compliance with the highest hygiene standards required by the food, beverage, chemical, and pharmaceutical markets. Blueguard’s quick fastening system makes it easy to install and adjust while at the same time being durable, just ask ECOLAB who have tested and certified it! The passivated AISI 304 stainless steel and techno-polymer materials are used to ensure maximum resistance to high-pressure water jets.

Designed to work together

Robert Palajsa, ABB Technical Sales Representative in Southwestern Ontario, suggests combining Blueguard with a non-contact safety switch like an IP69K rated ABB Eden (Adam/Eva) sensor or even the ABB stainless steel Sense7Z which also has PNP outputs, 2NO+1NC. ABB Jokab Safety products have a wide range of stainless steel products to complement the Blueguard stainless steel fencing and guarding. Troax’s Blueguard is also designed to mount light curtains, sensors, and other safety devices in order to meet PLd and PLe levels of safety in any Canadian or US-based facility.