Affiliations: [a]
School of Occupational and Public Health, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| [b]
Division of Occupational Medicine, Department of Medicine, St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| [c]
Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| [d]
Centre for Research Expertise in Occupational Disease, Toronto, ON, Canada
| [e]
Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| [f]
Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| [g]
Workplace Safety and Prevention Services, Toronto, ON, Canada
| [h]
Occupational Cancer Research Centre, Cancer Care Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Chun-Yip Hon, School of Occupational and Public Health, Ryerson University 350 Victoria Street, DCC318, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3. E-mail: cyhon@ryerson.ca.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Occupational skin disease (OSD) is a common health issue in the food processing sector. However, risk factors for OSD are suspected to differ according to the nature of the operation. OBJECTIVE:To ascertain if the risk factors for OSD vary depending on the type of food processing operation, namely meat processing vs. a commercial bakery. METHODS:Participants were asked to answer questions regarding workplace exposures and the current skin condition of their hands. Bivariate analyses were conducted to identify differences between the two participating operations. RESULTS:The meat processing workers were more likely to have wet work exposure, used hand sanitizer more often and changed their gloves more frequently. These findings from meat processing represented a statistically significant difference compared to the commercial bakery workers. Also, workers from meat processing reported more severe skin symptoms. CONCLUSIONS:Risk factors for OSD apparently differ between types of food processing operations. Differences in the nature of skin symptoms were also found between the two participating operations. It is therefore suggested that future studies examining OSD within the food processing sector should evaluate this health effect based on the nature of operations rather than the sector as a whole.
