The loneliness of the modern sake brewer

Sake breweries have plenty to worry about already when it comes to their staff: existing workers are ageing out of the workforce, not enough new people are coming in and the work is seen as hard manual labour which is unattractive compared to other jobs. 

Many breweries have responded to the decline in consumption by turning to quality over quantity, producing lower volumes of higher value added sake–which also means using smaller tanks and fewer staff who are often permanent employees instead of a team who come in from elsewhere for the brewing season. Which raises the question of what risks are involved in this new way of working?

The subject was addressed by the Brewing Society of Japan (BSJ) in their latest newsletter, which carried a report from the Office of Analysis and Brewing Technology of the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau confirming fatal accidents in the industry over the last two years. Accidents at sake breweries involved workers falling from tank surrounds and falling due to blacking out after smelling sake that had just been pressed. In both cases the accident happened during the day and the person was discovered quickly and taken to hospital. In another accident at a beer brewery, someone working alone was hit with hot water being used to wash tanks. Having fewer staff due to lower production makes sense, but there is also a risk of individuals over-working themselves and fatigue making them more vulnerable to accidents.

Reports in the Journal of the Brewing Society of Japan note fatal accidents in each tax region: this year there was only one in Sendai where someone working alone on a bank holiday fell around 5–6 meters when loading bottles onto a lift table from the first floor when the lift base was on the ground floor, and the accident was not discovered for some time.

Other accidents include someone in the Kanto-Shin’etsu region breaking their arm after opening the door of an upright washing machine and trying to take a cloth out while the drum was still rotating, and a worker in the Nagoya region suffering burns and head injuries after they were knocked over by pressurised hot water accidentally released from a boiler drain. In the Takamatsu area a worker standing on a ladder blacked out after trying to smell just-pressed sake from a tank where carbon dioxide gas had built up–they struck their head against the wall behind them and fell. And in another incident someone slipped and fell on a wet floor.

The National Tax Agency (NTA) is preparing lectures to be given before the new brewing season starts to raise awareness of accidents, and the Kumamoto bureau suggests measures such an emergency call button similar to those given to the elderly who are at risk of falling at home, or using cameras in conjunction with an AI that can detect workers moving around inside the brewery.