What Should You Be Testing?

What Should Food Manufacturers Be Assessing?

There isn't a standard list of contaminants that every food manufacturer needs to monitor.

A bakery, dairy processor, meat plant, beverage manufacturer and cold-storage facility can have very different exposure profiles.

The starting point is understanding what substances are used or generated, how workers could be exposed and whether there is uncertainty about the effectiveness of existing controls.

This isn't an exhaustive list. The contaminants requiring attention should be determined by the actual processes taking place in your facility.

1. Flour and Ingredient Dust

Flour dust is receiving particular attention because of the new Workplace Exposure Limit, but food manufacturing involves many other powdered ingredients.

Depending on the operation, workers may handle:

• Flour
• Starches
• Sugar
• Cocoa
• Milk powders
• Spices and seasonings
• Premixes
• Powdered additives
• Grain and cereal products

Exposure may occur during bag opening, tipping, weighing, batching, mixing, coating, transfer and cleaning.

For facilities handling significant quantities of flour or other powdered ingredients, personal exposure monitoring can help determine how much airborne material workers are actually exposed to while performing their normal duties.

For more detail on this specific change, read JTA's Flour Dust Now Has a Legal Limit for the First Time in Australia.

2. Ammonia and Refrigeration

Refrigeration can introduce a very different occupational hygiene risk.

Ammonia is commonly used in large industrial refrigeration systems found in:

• Meat and poultry processing
• Dairy manufacturing
• Beverage production
• Frozen food manufacturing
• Cold storage and distribution

Exposure may occur during leaks, equipment failure, maintenance or when refrigeration systems are opened.

Facilities using ammonia should consider factors such as gas detection, ventilation, alarms, maintenance procedures and emergency response arrangements.

3. Carbon Dioxide

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) can be present in food and beverage manufacturing through processes including:

• Beverage carbonation
• Fermentation
• Modified atmosphere packaging
• Dry ice use
• Chilling and freezing processes

CO₂ is colourless and odourless, so increasing concentrations may not be apparent to workers.

Enclosed, poorly ventilated and low-lying areas can require particular consideration.

Appropriate assessment and gas monitoring can help determine atmospheric concentrations and whether existing ventilation and controls are adequate.

4. Cleaning and Sanitation Chemicals

Cleaning is essential in food production, but how chemicals are used can create occupational hygiene risks of its own.

Facilities may use sanitisers, detergents, chlorine-based products, acids, alkalis, alcohol-based products and peroxide-based products.

The Safety Data Sheet is an important starting point, but an assessment should also consider the actual task.

• Is the chemical sprayed?
• Is it mixed manually?
• Is it diluted?
• Is it used with hot water?
• Is the worker in an enclosed area?
• How effective is the ventilation?

A chemical used safely in one process may create a different exposure scenario when the application method changes.

5. Diesel Engine Emissions

Airborne exposure isn't necessarily generated by the food-production process itself.

Diesel-powered vehicles or equipment can introduce emissions into warehouses, loading docks, distribution areas, maintenance facilities and enclosed or partially enclosed vehicle routes.

JTA has also examined diesel particulate matter in 31 New Chemicals Added to the Workplace Exposure Limits.

6. Welding Fumes and Maintenance Work

Not every airborne contaminant occurs during routine production.

Maintenance employees and contractors may undertake welding, cutting, grinding, painting, solvent use and equipment repair.

These tasks may happen infrequently, but they can still create airborne contaminants close to the worker's breathing zone.

Non-routine activities, shutdowns, maintenance, cleaning and product changeovers may create very different exposure scenarios.

When Is Occupational Hygiene Monitoring Required?

Not every substance in a food manufacturing facility automatically needs to be sampled.

A better starting point is to identify the hazard, understand how exposure occurs and assess the controls already in place.

Safe Work Australia states that air monitoring must be undertaken where there is uncertainty on reasonable grounds about whether the airborne concentration exceeds the applicable exposure standard or limit, or where monitoring is necessary to determine whether there is a risk to health.

Monitoring should therefore answer a question:

• Are workers being exposed above the applicable limit?
• Which tasks are contributing most to exposure?
• Are some workers experiencing greater exposure than others?
• Is local exhaust ventilation effectively controlling the contaminant?
• Has a process change altered worker exposure?
• Did recently implemented controls actually reduce exposure?

This is where an appropriately designed occupational hygiene monitoring program is more useful than simply deciding to "test the air".

What Does Personal Exposure Monitoring Involve?

For many airborne contaminants, occupational hygienists need to understand what an individual worker is actually breathing during their shift.

Personal exposure monitoring generally involves sampling within a worker's breathing zone while they perform their normal activities.

Depending on the contaminant and monitoring strategy, results can help establish:

• The worker's exposure concentration
• Which tasks contribute to exposure
• Differences between roles or work groups
• Whether exposure varies during the shift
• Whether existing controls are effective
• Whether additional controls should be considered

This is quite different from simply placing an air-quality monitor somewhere in the factory. The objective is to understand worker exposure.

For assistance identifying and assessing workplace exposures, see JTA's Occupational Hygiene Assessments service.

Don't Just Test Everyone

Effective occupational hygiene monitoring isn't necessarily about attaching a sampler to every employee.

Workers undertaking similar activities under similar conditions may be organised into Similar Exposure Groups (SEGs).

An occupational hygienist can use knowledge of the workplace, tasks and contaminants to develop a monitoring strategy that provides useful information without unnecessary testing.

Monitoring Is Only Useful if You Act on the Results

Depending on the findings, that could involve:

• Improving enclosure
• Installing or modifying local exhaust ventilation
• Changing ingredient-handling methods
• Altering cleaning procedures
• Improving general ventilation
• Substituting equipment or chemicals
• Changing maintenance procedures
• Reviewing respiratory protection
• Undertaking follow-up monitoring

Safe Work Australia's hierarchy of controls prioritises elimination and higher-order controls such as substitution, isolation and engineering controls ahead of administrative controls and PPE.

Start by Mapping Your Food Manufacturing Facility

Before deciding what needs monitoring, walk through the complete operation:

At each stage ask:

1. What airborne contaminants could be generated?
2. Who could be exposed?
3. How does exposure occur?
4. How frequently and for how long?
5. What controls are currently in place?
6. Do we know whether those controls are effective?

That exercise can reveal exposure sources that aren't immediately obvious when looking only at the primary production process.

Why This Matters Before 1 December 2026

Australia will transition from the existing Workplace Exposure Standards (WES) to Workplace Exposure Limits (WELs) on 1 December 2026.

Until then, businesses must continue to comply with the existing Workplace Exposure Standards. From 1 December 2026, the new WEL list applies.

For a broader explanation, read JTA's Workplace Exposure Limits Are Changing.

You can also see how food manufacturing compares with other sectors in Industries Most Affected by Australia's 2026 Workplace Exposure Limits.

For one manufacturer, the priority might be flour dust. For another, it could be ammonia. Elsewhere, cleaning chemicals, CO₂, diesel engine emissions or maintenance activities may require greater attention.

The important thing is understanding your own exposure profile before the new limits commence.