Midleton Distillery bags top safety award

Irish Distillers’ Midleton Distillery has been awarded one of Europe’s most prestigious recognitions for workplace safety: The Healthy Workplaces Good Practice Award 2025.

The award from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) recognises the distillery’s use of artificial intelligence and robotics to significantly reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injuries in its barrel unloading operations.

The award-winning solution centres on a custom-designed autonomous mobile robot (AMR) equipped with an AI vision system. The system now handles the unloading of 60kg whiskey casks from large shipping containers, a task that previously posed substantial injury risks to operators due to heavy lifting, awkward postures and the confined working environment.

“This recognition reflects our ongoing commitment to the health and safety of our team,” Jaime Jordan, general manager of Midleton Distillery, said. “We’re proud to have developed a pioneering robotic solution that puts the safety of our people first, while respecting the craft and tradition at the heart of what we do.”

Developed in collaboration with automation experts at Pilz Ireland and with involvement of the distillery’s health and safety, engineering, and operations teams, the robotic solution was conceived, built, tested, and deployed over a three-year period and has delivered a 100% reduction in manual handling incidents related to barrel unloading.

Mark Cullen, chief executive officer of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), praised the project as a model for other workplaces.

“Midleton Distillery has demonstrated exemplary leadership in workplace safety and health through this innovative solution.

“Too often, workplace health and safety is seen as a regulatory burden or cost overhead. Midleton Distillery has clearly demonstrated that it is in fact a strategic investment. By proactively addressing safety risks, they’ve not only protected their workforce but have also achieved tangible gains in efficiency. It’s a powerful reminder that safe workplaces are productive workplaces.”