13 replies to this topic

[Aleph]

Hi,

 

 

In our personal hygiene procedures false eyelashes are among many not allowed. There are two women who have false eyelashes but deny when asked. I have asked HR for advice but did not get any reasonable answer. What is the professional way of proving and stopping them from not following procedure? 

 

Many thanks

[Mr. Incognito]

Do you have any female quality lab techs that can befriend them and then ask things like "Where did you get your eyelashes I need to get a good set?".  Typically there is no way you can really get someone on things like that unless they volunteer the information or if you can see them when they aren't on and take a picture (in town or whatnot).

 

Usually it takes a bit of subterfuge to uncover things like that.

 

We had one guy at a previous employer that would chew gum and make sure that people on the quality team (regular floor employees) saw but when the lab techs went out around he would hide it.  I even asked him to come out in the hallway and asked him about it and he opened his mouth (without me asking) and said see no gum... until the plant manager happened to come out and see him chewing on it then sent him home for two days without pay to think about what he had done...

 

It's hard to prove something like that.

[Setanta]

Do you have any customer complaints with hair or eyelash looking hair? 

[Aleph]

I have spoken to one of women few months ago and she admitted having false eyelashes and removed them. Couple of weeks later she put them back on saying that " If others can why not her". I have reported this to her manager but when he asked her she denied. 

 

No, we did not have any hair/ eye lash customer complaints.

 

We have all these procedures to comply with food safety and quality but people refuse to adhere to them. This is slightly irritating !

 

I know this is hard to prove but there must be a way.

 

Thanks

[Charles.C]

Dear Aleph,

 

You can take a horse to water but ........

 

I would say that you have alerted / documented / shared the problem. The next element is Management Commitment.

 

http://www.foodsafet...ng-food-safety/

 

If you wish to provide some additional psychological leverage for action, maybe something like this on the communal noticeboard -

 

http://www.dailymail...al-experts.html

 

or -

 

http://www.thenation...aid-indonesians

 

Rgds / Charles.C

[Snookie]

Charles you read my mind and beat me to the punch.

[SQFconsultant]

Well you could establish a length and have a tech run around with a measuring tape... no, on second thought not a good thing. Try the pull test instead.

[fgjuadi]

Well you could establish a length and have a tech run around with a measuring tape... no, on second thought not a good thing. Try the pull test instead.

Agreed.  It's a tad uncomfortable, but I use the tug test on ear plugs, so why not eyelashes? False lashes easily pull off, real ones, not so much.

 

Another thing - as someone with a lot of drag queen experience (All new RUPERSIZED RuPaul Drag Race episode tonight!)...

Unless they are using individual lashes or a ton of eyeliner, you can usually see the fake eyelash strip above their real lash line.  A lot of the time it gets wonky /loose, especially when working / sweating.  If you're too uncomfortable with a tug test, have them wash their face / eye make up in front of you.  Actually, when the person wearing them denies it, you can let them know you can see the line.  They will probably be embarrassed at their incompetence. 

[Snookie]

Know of a plant where they imposed a no make up rule partly to try and get control of the fake eyelashes.  Employees really rebelled over no make up and wore the eyelashes anyway, their argument it wasn't makeup.  Based on the product line the no make up was a bit of overkill, and it did get ugly between management and staff.  Lost track of the person in the plant so don't know if it had a happy ending or not. 

[fgjuadi]

Know of a plant where they imposed a no make up rule partly to try and get control of the fake eyelashes.  Employees really rebelled over no make up and wore the eyelashes anyway, their argument it wasn't makeup.  Based on the product line the no make up was a bit of overkill, and it did get ugly between management and staff.  Lost track of the person in the plant so don't know if it had a happy ending or not. 

It's not make-up.  It's more like a tiny wig for your eyelids.  Like a merkin, they still enhance the window to the soul, but higher up and smaller.  My GMPs specifically say no false eyelashes / fingernails.

 

Because who wants to eat someone's nasty, gluey eyelash?  No one.

You do what you do with every other employee who breaks every other rule - 1 documented "verbal", 1 write up, termination.

 

If I have to physically peel fake eyelashes off of someone because they are lying to my face, that's a write up.  And if I have to do it twice?  flip that noise, they're gone.    I'm grateful that the people I work with aren't so disrespectful to me.  If someone violated GMPs over and over again after I had asked them, nicely, a billion times, my head would explode.

[mesophile]

Hi,

 

Your best bet is to write a brief letter and get the MD or equivalent person to sign it stating:

 

"It has been brought to my attention that members of staff within our company are wearing false eye lashes within the production environment. As you are aware, we are a food manufacturing company therefore customer complaints are seen as being critical to the success of our operation. If any member of staff is caught wearing false eye lashes within any production area you will be given a final written warning. Subsequent findings will result in your termination from our company."

 

Attach a copy of this to everyone's pay slip and see what happens....

 

If the woman in question is still doing it, haul her in the office for a final warning, if she complains that others are doing it. Give her some paper and a pen and ask her to write the names of all others so it can be investigated further. If she refuses it doesn't matter really as she will not be doing it again. Also, when she talks to the other members of staff they will stop as well. Nobody wants to loose there job at the end of the day.

 

Sometimes a firm swift approach is better than trying to negotiate.

 

Good luck.

[Charles.C]

Dear Aleph,

 

Is there an Employee's Union where you are located.?

 

If so, i anticipate you may find yr "Top Management" have a few opinions on what preventive measures are legally feasible.

 

Encyclopedical Hygiene lists are always useful for Guidance but the recommendations therein are not always fully implementable in practice.

 

Jewelry is a well-known case in point but there are several others. Including apparently yr present problem. It is not unknown for factories to require acceptance of employment agreements which are simply unenforceable.

 

Rgds / Charles.C

[Jairajmarcose]

our procedure is like this. we have a medical assistant ( a lady) checking all employees entering process area for checking personnel hygiene including such things as jewellery, cosmetics and ofcourse any signs of illness.

we have not had the problem of people wearing eyelashes, but such a check would deter someone from wearing them.

you can also think of putting up a poster at entry point listing out visually  all prohibited items including eyelashes.

[Charles.C]

Dear Jairajmarcose,

 

Unless your facility only has 10-20 employees, i propose yr Medical Lady as Superwoman.

 

Rgds / Charles.C