Most homebrewers are aware of the importance of Health and Safety at Work when actually at work and should be equally aware of the role personal responsibility has to play in this, but when they are through the door into the outside world perhaps sometimes forget they may be just as vulnerable to hazards, including activities carried out within their homebrew hobby.
So perhaps give a little thought to some of the risks you are exposed to on your next brewday and beyond. Obviously no need for a written risk assessment, just a few seconds thinking about what you are doing to make sure you do it safely. You owe it to yourself and perhaps others directly around you. Anyway these risks can include….
Lifting – lift what you can sensibly handle. Quite apart from pulling a back muscle or slipping a disc losing 23 litres of best bitter over the kitchen floor because it was just too heavy or because you were distracted will be a tad frustrating.
Electrics – if you use electrical equipment make sure its safe, especially if you ‘modify’ it, and don’t even think of bodging it. And also remember water/beer/wort and electrics don’t mix.
Handling Chemicals – Some of the chemicals that homebrewers use for sanitising and sterilising like bleach and concentrated Starsan can be harmful especially if they accidently get into your eyes, so handle with the care they require. And there are other chemicals out there too used by homebrewers so read the instructions before you open the container and use accordingly
Hot Liquids – Obvious. Leaking joints, boilers placed on unsteady surfaces, moving heavy containers of just boiled wort can scald your skin. I’m sure you don’t want a trip to A&E to treat the outcome of a hot liquid scalding accident
Pressure containing equipment – Make sure you know exactly what you are doing when assembling or modifying pressure equipment. Activities like modifying a PB which may hold 15psig (or new money equivalent) may on the face of it appear to be easy but the stored energy in that PB is significant and maybe not worth losing an eye for should things go wrong. And gas containing systems under pressure are far more dangerous than the equivalent liquid system, since gases expand if suddenly released whereas liquids do not.
Tripping Hazard – Are you untidy? Is your floor covered with stuff you haven’t cleared up and put out of the way for your brewday? Next time you move across your brew area with a kettle of hot water for example, don't regret that you tripped over the dog bowl and scalded your leg.
Wear the right gear – If you think gloves are needed to handle a hot piece of kit then go get them, don't say ‘It’ll be alright’ then drop it onto your foot because it was too hot. And flip flops might be OK in many circumstances but not on a slippery wet floor when you are humping stuff about.
Overpriming - too much sugar can cause bottle bombs, or cause your PB to vent (you are sure your PB rubber band relief valve is working aren't you) so double check quantities before you add the sugar.
Drinking beer whilst brewing might appear to be a good relaxing idea, but one too many and any of the above risks may come to haunt you.
So, fellow homebrewers, let’s hear from anyone who can add to the above list to highlight some of the things that can go wrong and sadly make our hobby an accident waiting to happen, rather than a pleasure to undertake.
And in the meantime if you want an example of how things can go badly wrong when you take your eye off the ball and where two of the above risks combine (drinking and hot liquids) look up what happened to @Gerryjo here
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/dont-take-your-eye-off-the-boil.82773/
So perhaps give a little thought to some of the risks you are exposed to on your next brewday and beyond. Obviously no need for a written risk assessment, just a few seconds thinking about what you are doing to make sure you do it safely. You owe it to yourself and perhaps others directly around you. Anyway these risks can include….
Lifting – lift what you can sensibly handle. Quite apart from pulling a back muscle or slipping a disc losing 23 litres of best bitter over the kitchen floor because it was just too heavy or because you were distracted will be a tad frustrating.
Electrics – if you use electrical equipment make sure its safe, especially if you ‘modify’ it, and don’t even think of bodging it. And also remember water/beer/wort and electrics don’t mix.
Handling Chemicals – Some of the chemicals that homebrewers use for sanitising and sterilising like bleach and concentrated Starsan can be harmful especially if they accidently get into your eyes, so handle with the care they require. And there are other chemicals out there too used by homebrewers so read the instructions before you open the container and use accordingly
Hot Liquids – Obvious. Leaking joints, boilers placed on unsteady surfaces, moving heavy containers of just boiled wort can scald your skin. I’m sure you don’t want a trip to A&E to treat the outcome of a hot liquid scalding accident
Pressure containing equipment – Make sure you know exactly what you are doing when assembling or modifying pressure equipment. Activities like modifying a PB which may hold 15psig (or new money equivalent) may on the face of it appear to be easy but the stored energy in that PB is significant and maybe not worth losing an eye for should things go wrong. And gas containing systems under pressure are far more dangerous than the equivalent liquid system, since gases expand if suddenly released whereas liquids do not.
Tripping Hazard – Are you untidy? Is your floor covered with stuff you haven’t cleared up and put out of the way for your brewday? Next time you move across your brew area with a kettle of hot water for example, don't regret that you tripped over the dog bowl and scalded your leg.
Wear the right gear – If you think gloves are needed to handle a hot piece of kit then go get them, don't say ‘It’ll be alright’ then drop it onto your foot because it was too hot. And flip flops might be OK in many circumstances but not on a slippery wet floor when you are humping stuff about.
Overpriming - too much sugar can cause bottle bombs, or cause your PB to vent (you are sure your PB rubber band relief valve is working aren't you) so double check quantities before you add the sugar.
Drinking beer whilst brewing might appear to be a good relaxing idea, but one too many and any of the above risks may come to haunt you.
So, fellow homebrewers, let’s hear from anyone who can add to the above list to highlight some of the things that can go wrong and sadly make our hobby an accident waiting to happen, rather than a pleasure to undertake.
And in the meantime if you want an example of how things can go badly wrong when you take your eye off the ball and where two of the above risks combine (drinking and hot liquids) look up what happened to @Gerryjo here
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/dont-take-your-eye-off-the-boil.82773/
Last edited:
Take care bottling...
)
) and if a tap is half-open, double-check and make sure you know which way makes it further open and which closes, before moving to close it (that one's from personal experience ... not paying attention and opening a tap further rather than closing it once resulted in a scald on the back of my hand 
