Stuck on finding any hazards with the Hammer Mill

Hi, I am doing a hazard analysis chart for our plant right now, and im stuck on finding any hazards with the hammer mill. Like Physical, Biological and Chemical hazards.  Our auditor insist I must find the hazards and preventive measures because I have the hammer mill in our flowchart. Thanks for any advice.

_{To dustihere:}

_{Any possibility of pathogenic microorganism due to improper cleaning (dead spot that is hard to clean) , physical metal powder or metal fragment due to wear-and-tear of the hammer mill, lubricant (using lubricant?) from the hammer mill etc.?}

_Yong

Dear dustishere,

Do you have a metal detector near the end of yr process ?

These are generically very popular with auditors where metallic process equipment is concerned. :smile:

If no budget for a MD, as per previous post,  you may have to validate from a risk evaluation that there simply is no significant hazard, eg metal contamination.

Rgds / Charles.C

Dear dustishere,

 

Do you have a metal detector near the end of yr process ?

 

These are generically very popular with auditors where metallic process equipment is concerned. :smile:

 

If no budget for a MD, as per previous post,  you may have to validate from a risk evaluation that there simply is no significant hazard, eg metal contamination.

 

Rgds / Charles.C

We have 4 grate magnets throughout the processing post hammer mill

We have 4 grate magnets throughout the processing post hammer mill

Dear dustishere,

You seem to have answered yr own OP wit a CCP. :thumbup:

(assuming you can validate the effectiveness of the last metal grate which i assume is the (most/joint equal most) sensitive and is located such that no subsequent significant risk of metallic contamination exists )

Rgds Charles.C

Hi, I am doing a hazard analysis chart for our plant right now, and im stuck on finding any hazards with the hammer mill. Like Physical, Biological and Chemical hazards.  Our auditor insist I must find the hazards and preventive measures because I have the hammer mill in our flowchart. Thanks for any advice.

Hi Dustihere,

Can you post a process flow diagram as I think that will help.

Regards,

Tony

In terms of "dead spots" in the hammer mill, depending on the nature of the products you are handling, I would certainly consider the effects of chemical hazards eg is there a food safety risk from a product 1 if it gets into another batch of the same product (thereby increasing the concentration to an unacceptable level) or is there a risk if product 1 gets into product 2 causing a cross-contamination risk?

Where you have dead spots in a powder handling process, there is always the possibility of material "hang up" and a "clump" of product might subsequently drop into product you don't want it to.

In terms of chemical hazards you might also want to think about mycotoxins if you are handling cereals / flour.

Good Luck!

DP2006