Jump to content

  • Quick Navigation
Photo

Glass & Brittle Plastic Clean-up Help

Share this

  • You cannot start a new topic
  • Please log in to reply
10 replies to this topic

ChristinaK

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 182 posts
  • 66 thanks
37
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Midwest
  • Interests:Art, Games, Gardening, Costuming, Public Health, Composting (with the power of worms!)

Posted 27 April 2016 - 02:00 PM

Hello all.

 

I recently lead training at our facility on our Glass & Brittle Plastic Policy and Breakage Procedure. It went well (I can animate a great powerpoint presentation). 

 

Anyway, a supervisor asked me what to do with brooms used after cleaning up broken glass. In our procedure, we list supplies as brooms, dustpans, brushes, shop vac, towels, shoe-covers, and cut-proof gloves. The instruction says to dispose of all items used in cleanup but the shop vac (only to dispose of the shop vac filter). So the supervisor was asking if the brooms and brush should also be thrown away, because that seems wasteful.

 

We asked the Ops Manager (who is also our SQF Practitioner), and he asked me to find out if we should only use the shop vac (and then I'd write a procedure on how to clean it after glass cleanup) or if we should continue using the brooms as well (and then I'd write an additional procedure on how to clean the brush/broom after using it to clean up glass). Either way, it appears that I'm writing a procedure on how to clean cleaning equipment.

 

So, my question is, does anyone have a better way to cleanup broken glass? Or do you have a procedure or method for cleaning equipment like brooms and vacuums that have been used to cleanup glass (ie, ways to clean the equipment to ensure that no glass remains stuck in bristles or hoses on brooms/vacuums)?

 

Background info: We stretch-blow high-heat-set plastic bottles and jars, and sometimes the heater lamp in the machine breaks. They usually break cleanly, not into many pieces, and there is a very low risk of it getting into a product because of where they're located in the machine. We've never had product contamination due to broken glass from the heater lamp. 

 

Thank you!

 

-Christina


-Christina

Spite can be a huge motivator for me to learn almost anything.


Thanked by 1 Member:

sarah2014

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 103 posts
  • 12 thanks
3
Neutral

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Female

Posted 27 April 2016 - 02:19 PM

 In our Glass $ Brittle Plastic Cleanup procedure,

 

 

 we just mentioned that ``the designated person will dispose of glass/plastic properly and ensure tools used/uniforms worn (i.e. shoes, brooms, brushes, and dustpan) are cleaned/changed outside of the affected area to prevent further contamination`` 

i have no idea if we need to write a procedure on  how to clean the brush/broom after using it to clean up glass.

 

i hope someone can help us 



Thanked by 1 Member:

Watanka

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 109 posts
  • 50 thanks
15
Good

  • United States
    United States

Posted 27 April 2016 - 02:23 PM

Christina,

 

We use brooms and brushes along with dust pans to collect and dispose of broken glass, typically containers for our product.  Does not happen very often, but when it does we follow our glass breakage procedure which, among other things, specifies that brooms and brushes used for dealing with broken glass are color-coded and stored separately from the usual assortment of sanitation tools.  Further, the glass breakage tools have to be cleaned immediately after use so as to not become part of the problem.  A QC technician is responsible for monitoring these activities and a supervisor is responsible to inspect and replace the tools as needed.  Once a year we select at random a brush used for this purpose and send it to an independent lab for their analysis for the presence of glass particles in the brush to validate our tool cleaning procedure. 

 

All that said, the best way to clean up broken glass is to have adequate shielding around your light fixtures that capture any broken glass in the first place.  If at all possible engineer a shatter-proof shield that the heater lamp sits in and it will do the clean up work for you.  Or perhaps you can replace the heat lamp with a different type of heating element.   If this is not practical then probably the best you can do is to implement a documented procedure for cleaning the broken glass and the cleaning tools used. 

 

Good luck!



Thanked by 4 Members:

ChristinaK

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 182 posts
  • 66 thanks
37
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Midwest
  • Interests:Art, Games, Gardening, Costuming, Public Health, Composting (with the power of worms!)

Posted 28 April 2016 - 02:49 PM

Christina,

 

We use brooms and brushes along with dust pans to collect and dispose of broken glass, typically containers for our product.  Does not happen very often, but when it does we follow our glass breakage procedure which, among other things, specifies that brooms and brushes used for dealing with broken glass are color-coded and stored separately from the usual assortment of sanitation tools.  Further, the glass breakage tools have to be cleaned immediately after use so as to not become part of the problem.  A QC technician is responsible for monitoring these activities and a supervisor is responsible to inspect and replace the tools as needed.  Once a year we select at random a brush used for this purpose and send it to an independent lab for their analysis for the presence of glass particles in the brush to validate our tool cleaning procedure. 

 

All that said, the best way to clean up broken glass is to have adequate shielding around your light fixtures that capture any broken glass in the first place.  If at all possible engineer a shatter-proof shield that the heater lamp sits in and it will do the clean up work for you.  Or perhaps you can replace the heat lamp with a different type of heating element.   If this is not practical then probably the best you can do is to implement a documented procedure for cleaning the broken glass and the cleaning tools used. 

 

Good luck!

 

Thank you for the advice, Watanka!

 

It's looking like there will have to be an additional procedure on how to clean the cleaning tools... (or add that to our glass and brittle plastic breakage SOP). :headhurts: I like the idea of using a separate broom and brush for glass-only, though. Maybe I can get special color-coded ones...

 

 

Does anyone have an example of how they clean their brushes/brooms after using them for a glass breakage? Is there a certain tool you use, like a wire brush or an air gun?


-Christina

Spite can be a huge motivator for me to learn almost anything.


Thanked by 2 Members:

mile

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 60 posts
  • 10 thanks
0
Neutral

  • Egypt
    Egypt

Posted 03 May 2016 - 08:19 AM

Hi Christina,

 

After cleaning brushes/brooms unscrew the hand and keep the lower part in closed plastic box and label it " For Glass cleaning Only " so avoid any contamination

 

Ahmed



Thanked by 1 Member:

mgourley

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Fellow
  • 1,403 posts
  • 997 thanks
274
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Plant City, FL
  • Interests:Cooking, golf, firearms, food safety and sanitation.

Posted 03 May 2016 - 09:35 AM

Dedicated brushes/brooms/dustpans are the way to go. 

 

Do you really need a cleaning procedure for a broom?

How about just stating in your SOP that brooms will be taken outside, glass residue removed and then returned to their dedicated storage space?

 

Marshall



Thanked by 1 Member:

ChristinaK

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 182 posts
  • 66 thanks
37
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Midwest
  • Interests:Art, Games, Gardening, Costuming, Public Health, Composting (with the power of worms!)

Posted 03 May 2016 - 01:15 PM

Hi Christina,

 

After cleaning brushes/brooms unscrew the hand and keep the lower part in closed plastic box and label it " For Glass cleaning Only " so avoid any contamination

 

Ahmed

 

That's a great idea, Ahmed! I'll add that to my solution proposal to our Ops Manager. Thank you!

 

Dedicated brushes/brooms/dustpans are the way to go. 

 

Do you really need a cleaning procedure for a broom?

How about just stating in your SOP that brooms will be taken outside, glass residue removed and then returned to their dedicated storage space?

 

Marshall

 

I agree! Dedicated seems like the best option.

 

I don't think we need a dedicated procedure...but that's ultimately up to what my boss thinks. Hopefully I'll just be able to tack a few new items onto the current glass breakage procedure and then retrain the maintenance guys and supervisors.

 

Thanks again everyone for your input!

 

-Christina

 

Also, this is Topic of the Week? Neat! I hope other people get something out of it, too then!


-Christina

Spite can be a huge motivator for me to learn almost anything.


mile

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 60 posts
  • 10 thanks
0
Neutral

  • Egypt
    Egypt

Posted 03 May 2016 - 02:30 PM

Hi Christina

 

we all learning here, the school of Food Safety :smile:



nbobrowicz

    Grade - Active

  • IFSQN Active
  • 24 posts
  • 5 thanks
0
Neutral

  • United States
    United States

Posted 04 May 2016 - 07:26 PM

We are a printer of packaging materials and have 2 dedicated broken glass waste containers (disposable fiber drum) on wheels, with labeled dedicated broom & dustpan attached to each container. Due to the very low frequency of occurrence, we also have a copy of the procedure steps and blank incident forms attached to the waste container. We do not have a procedure for cleaning the broom after an incident, as we did not feel the risk was very high. However, we do specify that vacuums cannot be used to clean-up broken lamps or bulbs due to potential risk of blowing hazardous chemicals (eg. mercury, etc)  into the air (even with a HEPA vac). You might want to re-evaluate the use of shop vac for broken lamps. 



Charles.C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Moderator
  • 20,542 posts
  • 5662 thanks
1,544
Excellent

  • Earth
    Earth
  • Gender:Male
  • Interests:SF
    TV
    Movies

Posted 05 May 2016 - 06:01 AM

Hi Christina,

 

Is the financial saving of attempting to clean/salvage a glass-contaminated broom meaningful versus the potential risks of someone re-using an incompletely cleaned item ?

 

It so often comes back to risk assessment.

 

Offhand i would generically suggest it makes more sense to dispose of such a broom and immediately attempt to prevent re-occurrences of the root cause.

 

I have zero experience with vacuum units  so cannot comment on that one.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


Lesley

    Grade - Active

  • IFSQN Active
  • 1 posts
  • 0 thanks
0
Neutral

  • United Kingdom
    United Kingdom

Posted 10 May 2016 - 01:57 PM

I think having a dedicated way to clean the brush after is actually a good idea because common sense and most things don't always go hand in hand, even when it seems they should.

I've worked in a lab and dealt with glass breakages and I see first hand one of the QAs bring the dedicated coloured brush back to the lab to wash it out in the sink and then use their hand to separate the bristles to check for glass parts. I shouldn't have had to tell them not to do that but I did.

Now I'm tasked with a rewrite on our SOP I'm reminded of this and think I should put it in somehow.





Share this


0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users