Sectors

How is occupational health and safety managed in the food sector?

In the food and agriculture view (NACE 01, 02, 03, 10, 11) 134 of the 190 activity codes are hazardous and seven are highly hazardous. SGK recorded 51,363 accidents and 94 deaths in these divisions in 2025; 43,649 of the accidents were in food manufacturing and 24 of the deaths in crop and animal production.

Two different jobs in one view

The food and agriculture view covers five NACE divisions: 01 crop and animal production, 02 forestry, 03 fishing and aquaculture, 10 manufacture of food products and 11 manufacture of beverages. Of the 190 activity codes drawn from the communiqué annex, 134 are hazardous, 49 less hazardous and seven highly hazardous. Plant and field sit in the same view but their risk profiles are separate.

The SGK 2025 table

NACE divisionAccidentsDeathsDeaths per 1,000 accidents
01 · Crop and animal production4,281245.6
02 · Forestry1,3051410.7
03 · Fishing and aquaculture96033.1
10 · Manufacture of food products43,649511.2
11 · Manufacture of beverages1,16821.7
View total51,363941.8

Food manufacturing ranks third among all NACE divisions in the country by accident count (43,649 accidents, 5.7% of the national total). Forestry shows the opposite shape: few accidents but a high fatality ratio at 10.7 deaths per 1,000 accidents, against a national average of 2.5.

Duties that run inside the plant

  • Risk assessment — machine guarding, cutting and slicing lines, slippery floors, cold storage, noise and repetitive motion.
  • Chemical and biological agents; cleaning and disinfection chemicals and refrigerant leaks are handled separately.
  • Confined space work; an entry permit routine for silos, tanks and fermentation vessels.
  • Health surveillance, informing and training workers.
  • Emergency plans, firefighting, first aid and evacuation.
  • Recording and reporting occupational accidents and diseases.

What changes in the field and the forest

Seasonal labour, tractors and agricultural machinery, pesticide application, animal-related risks and long-distance crew transport are the defining items on the agricultural side. The higher fatality ratio compared with manufacturing shows how heavy those items are, and undeclared work means the real accident count may be higher than the reported one.

Verify the class of your activity code with the hazard class query; all 190 codes and the division-by-division accident table are in the food and agriculture view. For national breakdowns use the Türkiye OHS statistics page.

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