18 replies to this topic

[polyfilm]

could somebody tell me the requirements for hair nets. I work for a company that makes food packaging, we use hair nets. I have always been told that hair nets need to cover peoples ears but this is not common practace where i work. Is it a requirement to have ears covered ? and what does legislation say about it ?

[MartLgn]

Welcome to the forums Polyfilm (wonder which sector you work in ? )

Assuming you work in a UK plant then the legislation question is easy, neither the Food Safety act nor the Food Hygiene Regulations are prescriptive enough to say how hair nets or indeed any hair coverings should be worn.

So far as I recall the BRC Global standard for Food Packaging requires appropriate hair covering but again doesn't say that it has to cover the ears, neither does Version 5 of the BRC Food standard nor the AIB standard. The driver here may be your customers expectations or supplier codes of practice or your companies own experience, compaints of hair in packaging etc.

Having said all that it is certainly best practice to wear hairnets or mob caps so they cover the ears and thereby cover as much hair as possible.

[Simon]

I agree with Martin.

[GMO]

Ditto. Reasons are, tends to cover the hair more effectively and also tends to prevent people picking and fiddling with their ears.

Are you a primary packaging supplier? If they're reluctant, maybe you could talk some of your customers into letting some of your staff visit? When they see the hygiene controls in a food site, they might realise they have an easy life in packaging!

[COQA]

I have had customers visit and audit our facility (printing) and we were cited a couple of times about the hairnets not covering the ears. Not only does this help cover more of the hair but in cases where earrings are allowed it will help to eliminate the lost earring in the packaging senerio.

[Saviour]

I have not seen any standard specifying how to wear Hear net. All they say as stated in Codex Standard CAC/RCP 1-1969, Rev. 4-2003

7.3 PERSONAL CLEANLINESS
Food handlers should maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness and, where appropriate, wear suitable protective clothing, head covering, and footwear. Cuts and wounds, where personnel are permitted to continue working, should be covered by suitable waterproof dressings.

Primary objective is to prevent hair falling on food product. There may be one more as GMO stated ''tends to prevent people picking and fiddling with their ears.'' This point I have not think off but it is quite poosible.
Mostly in case of Female workers especially in India they have long hair & in most parts of India wearing Earrings, Nose Pin & Bangles are religious issue especially for married worman. That is why I also recommend to cover ears as well.
Covering ear is good practice and effective too.

I was tring to attach some pictures but could not...
Someone pl.

Regards

[polyfilm]

thanks for the replies, very helpful

[Charles.C]

Dear Saviour,

I was tring to attach some pictures but could not... doh.gif

Could you give more details of yr difficulty? . one quick way to attach a picture is something like this -

1. save the image on HDrive, eg C:\ pictures \ pic1 where pic1 is the picture file in format such as jpg with size less than 2MB
2. assuming the posting window is open, eg the edit > full is already clicked; > browse panel in the “attachments” window (4th up from the bottom) and click it
3. an explorer menu should appear for the HDrives, select the appropriate file, ie C:\pictures\pic1 and click open
4. the selected file should now appear in the panel directly left of the “browse” panel
5. click the (green) “upload” panel
6. should see text like “connecting to IFSQN”, “waiting for ifsqn”, “uploading file” appear, the last one in big letters in the “attachments” window . If upload works will shortly see the text
“Upload successful and is available from the 'Manage Current Attachments' menu” appear in same window with a green tick at left
7. the uploaded file is now accessible from the “manage current attachments” window by clcking the scroller arrow or the window itself
8. put the mouse cursor at yr desired insert point in the post text window and click the green plus icon in the appropriate file showing in the “manage current attachments” window. You should now see something like [attachment=XXXX:name of file] appear at the mouse cursor position where XXXX is an allocated number and “name of file” is the appropriate file name
9. can check that result looks ok by clicking the “preview post” panel

Or was it a site problem ?, sometimes the site gets completely stuck at the upload request stage

Rgds / Charles.C

[Simon]

Dear Saviour,


Could you give more details of yr difficulty? . one quick way to attach a picture is something like this -

1. save the image on HDrive, eg C:\ pictures \ pic1 where pic1 is the picture file in format such as jpg with size less than 2MB
2. assuming the posting window is open, eg the edit > full is already clicked; > browse panel in the “attachments” window (4th up from the bottom) and click it
3. an explorer menu should appear for the HDrives, select the appropriate file, ie C:\pictures\pic1 and click open
4. the selected file should now appear in the panel directly left of the “browse” panel
5. click the (green) “upload” panel
6. should see text like “connecting to IFSQN”, “waiting for ifsqn”, “uploading file” appear, the last one in big letters in the “attachments” window . If upload works will shortly see the text
“Upload successful and is available from the 'Manage Current Attachments' menu” appear in same window with a green tick at left
7. the uploaded file is now accessible from the “manage current attachments” window by clcking the scroller arrow or the window itself
8. put the mouse cursor at yr desired insert point in the post text window and click the green plus icon in the appropriate file showing in the “manage current attachments” window. You should now see something like [attachment=XXXX:name of file] appear at the mouse cursor position where XXXX is an allocated number and “name of file” is the appropriate file name
9. can check that result looks ok by clicking the “preview post” panel

Or was it a site problem ?, sometimes the site gets completely stuck at the upload request stage

Rgds / Charles.C

Uploading a file or an image to a post is essentially a simple process. To add to the procedure Charles has described I am adding an image that I hope might help.

1. Click Browse
2. Select the file you want to attach
3. Click Upload
4. Click Manage Current Attachments and add the file into your post

 uploading.gif   61.89KB   82 downloads

[Saviour]

Thanx Charles.C/Simon for this help.

I have again tried.

This message is coming 'Upload failed. You are not permitted to upload this type of file'

Regards

[Charles.C]

Dear Saviour,

Interesting.

So what kind of file is it and what is the size (kb) ?
Or is it a folder ?
eg in windows explorer, in the "name" column, if a file should state XXXX.YYY where XXXX is the file name and YYY is the file type. What is "YYY"

Similarly in the "Type" column, what does it say ?

Rgds / Charles.C

[MRios]

Just curious Saviour:
how do you deal with the nose pin and bangles in the food industry? A nose pin would probably not fall off on its own, but bangles would probably come in contact with the food.
Probably off topic again but:
how do you deal religious or cultural issues that go against usual GMPs? Many of the women in my country wear their local typical clothing and requiring them to wear a uniform could result in a legal problem due to discrimination. Then again, not hiring someone because they want to wear their typical clothing would be discrimination too. Catch 22, huh?

[Charles.C]

Dear MRios,

Very accurate observations. In fact, from memory, the BRC food standard does contain some textual compromises due to such factors (and others).

Theoretically, I suppose it should be decided by a risk assessment again but the reality in many locations is similar to what you describe IMEX.

Some food factories go to the other extreme so that the workers look more like employees in a satellite construction company. I think this is often a result of customer requirements or potential regulatory issues.

No doubt some people here will disagree but my average experience of European factories for non - high risk foods has been that they are more worker flexible, visually speaking, than the stricter Asian ones (eg regarding items like mouth coverings) but are also more consistent over their decision. Perhaps the implementation of standards like BRC is part of the reason.

Rgds / Charles.C

[Saviour]

Dear MRios

Apologize for late reply.


Where there is religious issue it becomes very sensitive and delicate to implement something that is not believed to be acceptable.
So you need to be very conscious and at the same time get your purpose solved.

In my previous Organizations I have applied by a method first to get them aware about the requirement and correlating the implantations of a system with their need of job.

You know it is a human tendency to act or accept easily on those things which have their own benefits. No one is going to work for the sake of others but to the sake of oneself.
This theory works well here also
Steps followed were
1. Training what is the requirement and why
2. How it is going to affect if not followed
3. Start with small changes rather implementing strictly to make compatibility with operations, QA and safety
4. Gradually one by one step making the system more strict without getting them realize the changes..
5. Finallyfood handlers get realize the system and requirement and honors the same.

One example is glass bangles that is considered to be a SUHAG KE NISHANI i.e. must wear for married woman whose husband is live awhereas widows are not allowed to wear glass bangles

Situation was Workers wearing glass bangles while coming for work and when asked to remove the same they better opted for going back rather working.
So

• First they allowed to enter in premises
• Trainings on about consequences of wearing bangles and its negative impact in company and thus affects in their jobs
• Convincing them to wear only metallic bangles
• Subsequently reducing the number of metallic bangles to singles
• Contentious training on Cross contamination and associated risks with these bangles
• Finally no bangles at work place, by providing them space to keep their belongings and showing results of micro flora.
• For new workers old worker is a example and thus no problem in maintaining the same.

That’s what I practiced previously and it was not a one day job. It took 3 to 8 months finally to change their mind set by continuous training and awareness.

It was not an easy task rather challenging as with in the organization no one was sure that how formula is going to work.

Thus in my view training plays vital role and it depends how you make them listen and think the way that solves your purpose.

Regards

Edited by Saviour, 14 May 2009 - 11:27 AM.

[GemmaZA]

Hi polyfilm,

I am a technical assistant for a fruit company and it is a standard by the BRC that we wear hairnets but it does not state exactly how. It is a Tesco Manufacturing standard where anyone handling exposed food MUST wear hairnets which cover the hair and ears. I suppose it also depends who you are supplying, if you are supplying a customer which packs for Tesco then I would have thought you would also have to comply with the Tesco Manufacturing Standard, if you are supplying general food manufacturers then the BRC standard will be fine which means it is up to you whether you would like staff to cover their ears or not. Most people would prefer them to as it does stop any stray hairs and looks better, hope you've found the answer on here its a great forum! :-)

[Simon]

Hi polyfilm,

I am a technical assistant for a fruit company and it is a standard by the BRC that we wear hairnets but it does not state exactly how. It is a Tesco Manufacturing standard where anyone handling exposed food MUST wear hairnets which cover the hair and ears. I suppose it also depends who you are supplying, if you are supplying a customer which packs for Tesco then I would have thought you would also have to comply with the Tesco Manufacturing Standard, if you are supplying general food manufacturers then the BRC standard will be fine which means it is up to you whether you would like staff to cover their ears or not. Most people would prefer them to as it does stop any stray hairs and looks better, hope you've found the answer on here its a great forum! :-)

Hi Gemma, in the UK I think the food industry standard is to wear hairnets with ears covered, regardless of what it says in any standard. You are probably best following this then you will be sure to comply with all standards and any customer audits. Plus above the ears can soon turn into a little pork pie hairnet on top of the head, usually covering the bald patch of a middle aged engineer.


Glad you enjoy the forum.

Regards,
Simon

[DavidB]

Covering ears is good practise as it encloses hair better (especially if it is long) - something very important to consider is how to deal with loose hair outside the hairnet!

Remember human hairs are shed at a rate of to 75 to 100 PER DAY.... so loose hair on sleeves and shoulders need to be controlled as even if hairnets are worn diligently covering all hair in food protection areas, loose hair which falls onto uniforms before the hairnet is applied can then subsequently fall into product (it does happen....)

A solution is to have a set of lint rollers (eg 3M) at your entrance which is then used to pick up any loose hair on arms and shoulders after hairnets are applied.

The rollers also picks up whatever else that is loose or has may have found its way onto uniforms.

hope this helps

[Abdul Qudoos]

Greetings for the day!

You can make your company policy and procedure and state 'wear hairnets with ears covered in food packing area'.

During Personal hygiene training explain about the wearing that makes GMPs

Signboards at the workers entrance area, wear appropriate coverings (hair-nets, coveralls, shoe covers, etc.)

For wearing jewelery most of the companies rules and regulations are before entering in food packing area remove all the precious things and secure in a locked place (a lockers with small cabinets can be given to employees working in industries)

And most of the womens minimize the wearing of ear rings/studs/hanging, nose pin, bangles, rings, etc. during the food production and packing.

A display as you see below in attachment.

Overall its also company management and decisions for the above.

Attached Files

•  personal_hygiene.JPG   15.25KB   56 downloads

[cosmo]

Regardless of what the standard says your GMP policy statement must at minimum cover the standard and is what you need to follow. If you decide to cover ears (EG: customer quality requirement is stricter than the standard) then write it into the policy statement. It then becomes what you do in your plant.
With regards to ear rings, nose studs and any other exposed piercing, if it is an issue to remove it for whatever reason, (I agree training is the best approach) then cover it with a blue, metal detectable band aid (not all blue band aids are metal detectable).
What ever your approach you must enforce the policy statement