We are also a packaging manufacturing company for food products as well as many other commercial applications. We are in the process of upgrading our plant and work processes to become HACCP-certified under the IFS-PACsecure certification.
Our plant is 100,000 square feet in area with 60% of the area under an arched wooden truss roof structure, with smooth wood panels on the inside ceiling of the arches. Our paper bag production generates dust which collects on the ceiling and especially the beams and trusses. We have trialed using our scissor-lift with staff equipped with vacuums to clean the ceiling and beams/trusses and plan to do this on a monthly basis as part of our Master Cleaning Plan.
Our questions are:
1) Is it possible to become HACCP-certified with a smooth wood-panel ceiling and exposed wooden beams and trusses, if we have it cleaned regularly under a Master Cleaning Plan?
2) Is permeability of the wood an issue? The roof is water-tight and does not leak. However, all wall and ceiling material surfaces should ideally be non-permeable. Should we consider the significant expense of sealing the wood panels and beams/trusses for this requirement? Or is a Master Cleaning Plan sufficient?
Any input or advice from HACCP professionals who have had to deal with a wood roof issue for HACCP certification would be sincerely appreciated.
Sincerely,
akenney
I work for a company that manufactures food packaging. We are trying to come up with the best ways to regularly clean dust off of the overhead crane rails and off the I beams that support the roof. These surfaces are directly over the machines that produce our product. I would appreciate it if anyone would share how they approach cleaning these surfaces.