Paperclips & Staples in Shipping & Receiving Area
Good afternoon,
My first post on this site.
When we receive Raw Materials into the warehouse, they also contain the COA for the lot received.
Our receiving person, fills out a Quality Control form, which goes with sample of product to the lab.
They must also attach the COA to form.
Can they stable or attach with paperclip, the COA to form? I know those items are not allowed in processing areas, but not 100% sure about the receiving dept?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I guess the QC lab could attach the COA to form, if needed
Thank you
Robert
Depends on the standards you work to. A lot of retailers would say it's not acceptable in the UK but if there is no traffic between production and these areas, it might not be an issue. What standards do you work to?
In realistic terms though if you're asking "is it a genuine risk?" The answer is probably not in reasonable terms but malicious contamination is always a risk with staples but it's up to you to assess the risks of that.
Thank you for your reply. We are trying to do an SQF Audit, level 2.
One of the previous replies talked about assessing the risk. If you can prove through your risk assessment (should be part of your HACCP plan) that the hazard is adequately controlled, then your auditor might accept that but no guarantee.
Use what is known as a staple free stapler - it will adhere paper to paper quite nicely.
we keep one rule for all departments and use either a plastic sleeve to transport papers to the lab where we can use a stapler or use a staple-free stapler (japanese brand called Harinacs) in receiving areas. Both work well
We use stapleless staplers now in all production areas. Just make sure you "staple" it on both sides of a corner it makes it stay together better.