A few years ago Food Engineering Magazine featured an article entitled “Food Plant of Tomorrow.” It talked about how food plants are changing in order to meet the demands of the consumer. Waste management, green building incentives, heftier/safer equipment and a consumer demand for where the food is coming from are all concerns for current food plants and facilities of the future. I also believe that by making sure product and plant safety is important and integrating safety products such as non-slip bar grate into food plants, worker and consumer confidence will be affected.
Employee and product safety should also always be a concern in current and future food manufacturing plants. While striving to meet the public’s concern with “farm to fork” foods, energy efficient/green facilities and high quality products, facilities should not forget about day to day safety. Because the “Green Movement” is so important in today’s society and in any future buildings, green safety products should be considered. By using safety products that are made of recycled content, such as SLIPNOT products and bar grating which have a minimum of 40% recycled content up to 83% recycled content, food plants may be eligible for LEED credits.
Safety products such as slip resistant bar grates can be used to help build the “beefier” equipment that the article mentions. The goal of this equipment is higher efficiency and less down time; equipment that is meant to run 24/7 instead of just 8 hours a day to help meet the demand of the public. SLIPNOT has worked with countless food processing facilities to help create safer equipment and work areas around the equipment. Platforms, cross overs, stair treads, and ladder rungs are only a few of the safety products that can be implemented into current and future facilities.
For more information on slip resistant safety products contact SLIPNOT at (313) 923-0400, 1-(800)-754-7668 or email info@slipnot.com
Higgins, Kevin T. “Food Plant of Tomorrow” www.foodengineeringmag.com. August 30, 2005. September 20, 2011
