Code of Practice for Third Party Cold Storage Facilities
My client uses third party cold storage facilities. I would like to set up a code of practice for these facilities, or am I making life difficult for myself, and should I just use our general supplier questionnaire.
Firstly, a risk assessment;
Physical Risks - low (I'm presuming your client stores boxed or contained product/raw materials)
Chemical Risks - low (get paperwork detailing that R22, R408A refrigerants are not used)
Microbiological Risks - low (again, presuming alarm based freezer systems, records on file that product is kept frozen - you may want to request random results)
Intrinsic Risks - low (again, presuming the cold store has an allergen policy and/or product is in sealed boxes).
These should all really be detailed in your coldstore's code of practice / contract / quality policy.
Secondly, test this;
Physical Risks - probably not relevant
Chemical Risks - hopefully not relevant (get the paperwork)
Microbiological Risks - stick a temperature tag on the odd pallet - in my experience, Irish cold stores are quite good at maintaining temperature, but have a history of leaving product standing on loading bays for quite a while (if your budget does not extend this far, google image a temperature tag, colour print it and stick it on the pallet wrap, really works a treat)
Intrinsic Risks - add to external auditing schedule and visit annually unannounced, for example, follow a delivery in, stick on a yellow jacket, smoke, swear, and generally act like a delivery driver and observe.
This not only allows you to fully validate you service supplier, but also gives you an opportunity to wear a yellow jacket, smoke and swear.
A code of practice already exists for cold storage units - your job / your client's job is to make sure your service provider follows it.
Firstly, a risk assessment;
Physical Risks - low (I'm presuming your client stores boxed or contained product/raw materials)
Chemical Risks - low (get paperwork detailing that R22, R408A refrigerants are not used)
Microbiological Risks - low (again, presuming alarm based freezer systems, records on file that product is kept frozen - you may want to request random results)
Intrinsic Risks - low (again, presuming the cold store has an allergen policy and/or product is in sealed boxes).
These should all really be detailed in your coldstore's code of practice / contract / quality policy.
Secondly, test this;
Physical Risks - probably not relevant
Chemical Risks - hopefully not relevant (get the paperwork)
Microbiological Risks - stick a temperature tag on the odd pallet - in my experience, Irish cold stores are quite good at maintaining temperature, but have a history of leaving product standing on loading bays for quite a while (if your budget does not extend this far, google image a temperature tag, colour print it and stick it on the pallet wrap, really works a treat)
Intrinsic Risks - add to external auditing schedule and visit annually unannounced, for example, follow a delivery in, stick on a yellow jacket, smoke, swear, and generally act like a delivery driver and observe.
This not only allows you to fully validate you service supplier, but also gives you an opportunity to wear a yellow jacket, smoke and swear.
Like I need an excuse...except for the smoking.......
Ok I am going to send the regular Supplier questionnaire and request their HACCP documentation... hahahahahahahahahahaha.....that'll confuse 'em for a few days..
Hi all,
My client uses third party cold storage facilities. I would like to set up a code of practice for these facilities, or am I making life difficult for myself, and should I just use our general supplier questionnaire.
Or you could require compliance with a relevant standard such as BRC Storage & Distribution?
Hello
Regarding to this statement below, are you saying due to the type of packaging (sealed boxes), the risk is control by the box therefore allergen is contained?
"Intrinsic Risks - low (again, presuming the cold store has an allergen policy and/or product is in sealed boxes)."
The reason I am asking is that I want to rewrite our allergen management plan that is not enforceable due to lack of racking space in a Third-Party Warehouse. Currently we try our best to store product using like to like principles but run into compacity issues. I want to address the compacity issues, and state the packaging is sufficient protection against cross contact with unlike allergens.
Please advice
David
Hi Shea,
This is very interesting what you say below:
google image a temperature tag, colour print it and stick it on the pallet wrap, really works a treat)
I tried googling this but I am confused. Does one you print out yourself change colour? I would be grateful if you could provide a link, thanks