By Joel Hall, Bettcher Industries Product Manager, and David Vest, Bettcher Industries Global Distributor Manager.
In the past, preventing cuts to personnel was the main concern in meat trimming operations. While simple safety equipment like chainmail gloves have made such injuries all but obsolete, repetitive strain injuries (RSIs) remain an ongoing risk in the meat processing industry.
Most RSIs stem from long hours of straight knife use. In addition to time consuming requirements to complete multiple strokes, straight knife trimming is hard on hands and forearms. Conversely, today’s powered hand trimmers significantly reduce RSIs. Also, the tools minimize physical exertion that is required each shift, so workers report less fatigue.
RSIs in meat processing plants carry significant direct and indirect costs. These costs not only affect workers, but also plant productivity, profitability, and long-term competitiveness.
Direct costs encompass medical expenses, workers’ compensation, and disability payments. Indirect costs resulting from RSIs include reduced output, replacement employee training and lower worker morale. Additional impacts include administrative burdens, regulatory penalties, legal expenses, and higher insurance costs.
Beyond the heightened risk of injury, straight knives require deep technical expertise. Powered hand trimmers reduce the need for highly skilled meat cutters. Although knives are still widely used for detail trimming, boning and other precision cuts, processors could switch to powered trimmers. Most are hesitant because of the initial investment. However, when considering the reduction of RSIs, increased yield, and higher production output, power trimming tools are a high value because they provide quick returns on investment (ROIs).
As employees highly experienced with straight knife trimming continue to reach retirement age, there are very few, if any, individuals in line to take their places. On top of this, meat processors must contend with high labor turnover rates, which means they are constantly rotating people and often dealing with new employees that have been on the job for six months or less.
Modern powered hand trimmers, such as those that use rotary blade technology, can get new employees up and running in a very short amount of time.
While improved safety and a dwindling pool of experienced trimmers are compelling factors, what usually convinces meat processors to switch to powered hand trimmers is the quick ROI. In some cases, processors see a return within two weeks thanks to improved performance, increased yield and reduced costs associated with employee RSIs.
Large-volume processors have long realized the benefit and value of powered hand trimmers over straight knives and continue to readily embrace new trimming technologies for their production operations. For them, the goal is to increase productivity, yield, and throughput and do so in the shortest amount of time possible, especially when consumer demand grows for one cut of meat over others.
Not every straight knife application is a viable candidate for powered hand trimmers. Boning out, for instance, requires the use of straight knives. Whereas uniform de-fatting and trimming of primal cuts is well suited for powered hand trimmers, because less seasoned employees tend to remove too much usable product using straight knives.
With effective training, employees can safely, properly and productively operate power hand trimmers in about 20 minutes. A line supervisor in a chicken processing plant who worked for the company for 10 years but had never done any trimming nor used a straight knife was put to the test. Equipped with a rotary blade-type power trimmer and proper training, the employee was able to correctly bone out chicken thighs, and did so at a higher yield rate compared to experienced employees who perform the operation with a straight knife daily.
While rotary-blade powered hand trimmers are extremely safe, there are risky behaviors on the part of processing plants that can introduce unsafe conditions. One is not replacing worn parts, such as blades, when recommended, and another is failure to properly maintain the tools.
This is where trimmer OEM-supplied preventive maintenance training comes into play. Such training involves teaching not only users but also management team members when and how to perform maintenance on certain trimmer components. They also learn how to identify any issues such as excessive vibration that could lead to potential tool breakage.
For example, sharp trimmers provide the safest and most effective performance. When operators are well trained in blade sharpening, they know how to do it correctly and can identify when a blade needs attention. Additionally, preventive maintenance training instructs on proper cleaning processes. This includes how to strip down trimmers at the end of the work day, re-lubricate and reassemble them for the next day’s use.
With the proper powered trimmer use and maintenance training, meat processing plant employees make more effective cuts faster and with significantly less physical exertion. This, in turn, reduces the risk of RSIs that carry hefty direct and indirect costs that not only affect worker well-being, but also the financial well-being of the protein processing plant.
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