Winery Utilities and Health and Safety Programs

Abstract

A winery’s health and safety program interacts with all levels of wine production and viticultural activities, including the maintenance and operation of its associated utility systems. In this chapter, the principal focus will be on the relationships of the utility systems and subsystems that have been previously detailed in this text and how they influence the safety and health program and overall winery risk. New technology generally brings with it the promise of easier methods, faster production times to finished, end products and hopefully lower production costs. Often with the new technology are new risks to be reckoned with for both managers and employees alike. It is therefore profoundly important that wineries have a program framework into which the old as well as the new systems and their associated risks can be integrated and in-winery rules and regulations developed to protect the winery’s most valuable resource—its employees.