15 replies to this topic

[Madam A. D-tor]

Dear All,

BRC 7.5 is about protective clothing.

It is common to:
- cover all private clothing with protective clothing. with special care to hoods and close the above button;
- not to wear protective clothing in toilets, smoking rooms and canteens.

What do you think of zippers on personal clothing? Do you know these sweat-shirts and fleece-vests with a large (high) collar with a zipper? The zipper always is above the highest button of the protective clothing. Do you think, this is a food contamination risk to be considered?
Are there companies with rules regarding the wearing of these zippers?

[Madam A. D-tor]

I'm sorry to you all. This topic is supposed to be posted in the BRC Food. Can anyone replace it for me.

Thanks on forehand.

and sorry to you all.

[Kamwenji Njuma]

Dear Madam A,

In our case we prohibit wearing of clothes with zippers or you wear and have the zipper (pulling part) removed.This is checked by the hygiene supervisor before issuing the personnel with a protective clothing.

Regards,
Kamwenji

[Simon]

I moved it for you Madam A. D-tor.

Can anyone post a photo of this protective clothing with a zipper. I cannot visualise it.

Regards,
Simon

[Tony-C]

Simon

Madam A. D-tor is referring to zippers on personal clothing:

Dear All,
What do you think of zippers on personal clothing? Do you know these sweat-shirts and fleece-vests with a large (high) collar with a zipper? The zipper always is above the highest button of the protective clothing.

This is a good point. We used to provide suitable body warmers with studs so there was no need to wear such clothing.

Such clothing could represent a serious foreign body hazard and so should be banned unless deemed not to be a hazard by risk assessment

Regards,

Tony

[Charles.C]

Dear All,

I am finding this thread interesting but very confusing. I hv no idea what a sweat-shirt, fleece-vest, or body warmer looks like.

What is the protection against ? Or are we talking about something like a corset with a zip ?? I agree with Simon, a picture might be helpful.

Rgds / Charles.C

[added - I did a little googling, I see what you mean about the fleece-vest, the sweat shirts seemed rather variable (esp. opacity, thks Heidi Klum ) but generally no zippers]

 fleece_vest.png   11.45KB   15 downloads

 sweat_shirt.png   98.17KB   14 downloads

[Madam A. D-tor]

Hello every one,

Attached you find some examples of personal clothes with maybe a product contamination risk.
It is hard to see on this pictures, but the zippers go all to the top site of the collar. (I am sorry for my bad English).
Mostly the protective clothing do not close that high. The zipper, the metal or plastic pulling part, or some attached decorative elements hang above the protective clothing. Do you think this is a hazard for product contamination. (similair to jewellery)



Also attached, two (not so good) pictures from internet, showing the potential hazard.

Attached Files

•  Hello_every_one.doc   217KB   66 downloads

Edited by Madam A. D-tor, 05 February 2010 - 10:38 AM.

[Aegean]

Hi Madam A.D-tor and all;

after quite long time I am back again :)

this will be a quick message , if the zipper is plastic ; it would be a high risk for contamination , so its better not to use it.. But if its is a metal ; than you can make your own risk assessment since (I guess) you will have a metal detector at the end of your production line . And if this is not an acceptable risk ; here you have two choices ;

1- forbid the use of cloths like sweets having a zipper at top,
2- use much protective overals like the ones used in microlabs ,chemical labs .
you can also use some protective cloth just for necks during winter.

(for these I would like to send some photos as attached but couldnt do that since I do not have a permission ...)

(Simon , what can I do for this by the way ?)

but please do not forget what ever you use; you have to prove it by a risk assessment (likelihood of the contamination of a zipper particle into you final product can be a good point to start.)

hope this will help :)

Aegean

[Simon]

You should be able to attach gif or jpeg images to posts just like attaching any other document, provided it is less than 2mb. If you have problems you can email to team@ifsqn.com and I will upload them for you.

Regards,
Simon

[Aegean]

thanks , I tried to send the photos as a word doc but it didnt permit.
Will use your advice for the next time .

Thanks for this,

Aegean

[Simon]

thanks , I tried to send the photos as a word doc but it didnt permit.
Will use your advice for the next time .

Thanks for this,

Aegean

You can attach word documents to posts, although if you want to attach images you are better off extracting them from the word document and saving them as gif or jpeg and then attaching those to your post. Like I said you can always email me and I will post them for you.

Regards,
Simon

[bibi]

i think there is a kind of mobcap with collar extended length to the shoulder(sorry i do not know the appropriate name for it), just the face is showing, that may solve the problem.
if anyone find the supply in uk please post it
and thank for the subject
bibi

[GMO]

I've had this picked up by a Tesco auditor before with people having personal clothing including zippers and hoods poking out of the top of their clothing. As a result, we have a rule that the coat must cover this. If it can't they need to wear alternative clothing!

[Madam A. D-tor]

Hi GMO,

(Nice hearing from you again)

Your post brings us back to the start:
* Did you include this as a hazard in your hazard analyses?
* Do you yourself consider those collars and zippers as a contamination risk?
(I found someone with a broken puller of the zipper, but he told me that this had happened at home)
* how did the workers react?
* Did the company provide special protective clothing?

For the hoods: I think this is a risk. Especially for the contact with hair.

[GMO]

I don't think we specifically included it as a hazard in our H.A. but personal hygiene was and it's in our personal hygiene procedure.

I don't think a zipper is a contamination risk, I think the collar or hood is more because of hairs which fall on this when the person is outside the area will then likely fall on your coat, then into food etc.

The workers do what I say! I rule with a rod of iron! Seriously, we've had the rule from day 1 which makes it easier. People don't think to question it.

No special clothing. Just knee length routine bog standard food coat. Most collars and hoods are possible to put underneath a coat like that.

Sorry not been around much. Dr GMO despite my profile pic is pregnant and so very busy and very tired. I may be keeping in touch throughout my maternity leave though to keep my hand in!

[cazyncymru]

Sorry not been around much. Dr GMO despite my profile pic is pregnant and so very busy and very tired. I may be keeping in touch throughout my maternity leave though to keep my hand in!

Well congratulations!!! when is the big event????

Cazxxx