Health Challenges for Bakers

To better understand the health challenges that the workers in a bakery may face, it could be important to revisit what the job per se entails. In an everyday situation, a worker in a bakery has to mix flour, salt, yeasts, spices, sugar, and other ingredients to prepare dough, batter, fillings, etc., which are then baked in ovens to turn them into bread, cakes, rolls, etc.

A simplistic and incomplete description like this does not make the job of a baker look that demanding apparently. But what is apparent is often not true. The real situation for those who have to work every day in the production unit of a bakery could be challenging, and if proper precautions are not taken, the workers can also be susceptible to health hazards.

This is true, especially in the light of the fact that scientists have found exposure to flour as one of the most important causes of occupational asthma and other respiratory problems, and also of skin diseases. Dry flour also presents a perennial hazard of fire and dust explosion. Experts point out that cigarette lighting in such an environment may be extremely dangerous.

The risk of fire may also arise from other sources such as fuels. Moreover, the high temperatures and the high levels of relative humidity in which workers in a bakery generally have to operate may cause fatigue and thermal exhaustion. The risk of meeting with accidents such as cuts as a result of handling sharp tools or that of falls due to the slippery floors or the risk of having back pain as a result of carrying heavy loads can also hardly be over-emphasised.