Hi All, i'm having some issue with our QA/Technical depts and trying to get safety improvements implemented as they are claiming they produce a food hazard risk. This is everything from installing mirrors for visibility (non glass mirrors) at traffic routes, catchment trays under machines to reduce oils/spillages, fire warden kits in the factory...... its pretty endlesss and hugely frustrating. I'm looking for case law examples or legal basis for safety requirements trumping food safety requirements as i'm sick of the endless obstacles being placed in our way. Any advice would be great!

hi I think you find health and safety and food safety are legal requirements. from what you say this seems to be more about the tech manager having more weight. i would suggest asking him how each particuler h & s measure you want to introduce is going to affect food safety such as if i put a non glass mirror up how is this going to cause contamination of the food or how it is breaching food safety legislation. I am responsible for advising senior managers on both food safety and health and safety in my role. the way i consider food safety against health and safety is by doing an risk assessment to predict likely outcomes if we do one thing for H & S the effect on food safety will be x and if we don't because of food safety the outcome will be y. then senior managers can make an informed dicision. hope this helps

I agree with the other contributors, also, why not see if other food manufacturers ave had similar issues and then do a site visit to see how they have overcome them. Ian

Ian, are we reading the same post?!!! I don't see any reference in the OP to putting safety first, to the contray it seem FS is "trumping" H&S! Moreover, the H&S controls suggested in OP would have no negative impact on FS if managed correctly, so your post mistifies me!

I wouldn't take it too personally safetyman2012, Ian suggested I should resign once in a thread and although a tempting proposition I decided to turn up for work the next day and subsequently ever since. Seriously though, I hear your pain and it does sound like your Technical Dept has a little more weight or can shout louder than the Safety Dept - this is not unusual though for many food manufacturing companies - you have to learn different ways to overcome the obstacles, be smart and focused, stick to the facts and don't give in. Don't get angry but be more assertive - easier said than done but keep chipping away.