3 replies to this topic

[retep]

Hello Everyone,

I was hoping to get some advise or maybe have some of you share your experiences with similar situations. Our company is a freight forwarder and we import and export mostly produce, meat and some pharmaceuticals to other countries. We have an ambient area where we keep our packaging materials and some products that require room temperature controls. Our company is firm believer in feng shui and they just had an expert come in and say that we needed more "running water" in this ambient area. This would mean putting 2 100 gallon tubs of waters (metal) with wood frames and plexiglass tops into an area where our packaging material is kept. When I was told I immediately shuttered and said no. I was told that they werent asking they were telling. I have been mulling it over and I dont think any sort of risk assessment would be strong enough to justify having these here. Can anyone help me out with something I may not have thought of ? Keeep in mind these this is water only, no live animals.

[esquef]

That's classic! Please, please share your risk analysis after you write it. Sorry I can't offer you any advice.

[retep]

It gets even better. Now they want to put Bamboo in the water feature.

[shea quay]

If the packaging materials and ambient products are wrapped / packed and tamper proof (they should be by your customer anyway), I would not see a problem. Afterall, you have wooden pallets in this area, what's wrong with bamboo? A quick weekly documented check on bamboo integrity (possibly via a photographic standard) could suffice. The water tanks' plexiglass and piping would come under your glass and hard plastics register. The only possible concerns I would have would be the stagnant water in the tanks. Possibly this could be a legionella related (health and safety) problem? Also, the tanks should be bunded i.e. a tank underneath them to collect any leaks to prevent damage to customer's goods (this may be an insurance issue you would have to consider). I'm going to guess that your company owners are either from Asia or are pretentious middle-class pricks (no offence intended). Either way, if it is raised as a possible issue, do not underestimate the power of the "religious beliefs" defense. This has started to penetrate the food industry and food industry standards from an employment law perspective (which, for the record, I consider to be a good thing). For example, I'm in Ireland, and have had to alter my hygiene rules to include a Kara as allowable jewelry following one particular audit, even though the only Sikh in the building is my head after a heavy Sunday night's drinking (it's an Irish-Catholic thing to go drinking on a Sunday). If your employers are serious about their beliefs and mention them on a document such as their Company Policy Statement that is communicated to your customers and you can risk assess the effects of these beliefs, you should be ok from a food safety perspective.
For the record, I risk assessed satanic slaughter of staff. Went well until our legal team intervened.