INDUSTRY DRIVEN, INDUSTRY FOCUSED PAGE | 5
"
"
"Very eye-opening and interesting to hear
how others in the industry work."
—Mike Mowry, Safety Functional Lead,
Worker Representative, McCormick Canada
RISK ASSESSMENT WORKSHOP
When representatives from the food and beverage wholesale distribution industry gathered in September
2023, they were asked to think about what was hurting them or could potentially hurt them or make them ill.
The group created a list of 55 hazards.
"We had good conversation and immediate feedback from the group, particularly when there were differing
opinions," says Cameron Melin, a worker representative from Gordon Food Services. After an informative
discussion about each hazard on the list, the hazards were ranked, assessed, and validated.
MSD hazards related to manual material handling emerged as the number-one risk leading to injuries in the
food and beverage wholesale distribution industry. The second highest risk, as identified by the group, was
low risk perception. This refers to the idea that workers and employers either aren't aware of or don't fully
understand the risks they may be encountering at work. Third on the list was slips, trips, and falls, followed
by workers' heads being struck against racking. The remainder of the list included pedestrian safety, fatigue
and stress as a risk factor, the presence of temporary workers (i.e., workers from a third-party agency),
motor vehicle incidents during the transportation of goods, moving pallets around, and powered material
handling equipment collisions with fixed structure/objects.
"This method is effective because it allows for group input, discussion, and review of industry trends and
recent incidents. It considers the larger picture of the industry," says Monica Sohi, Health and Safety Manager
at Metro Ontario Inc. The time taken to discuss each hazard gave participants the opportunity to exchange
ideas and describe their experiences in detail.
