4 replies to this topic

[AllisonB]

Hello!

 

Let me start with the situation: I am the Quality Systems Coordinator at an Aseptic Juice Production facility, I have been in this position about a year. We have an older building here where someone (in their infinite wisdom) decided to paint the entire ceiling about 5 years ago. The paint started to peel, so in order to mitigate this problem, about 3 years ago a drop ceiling was installed over the processing (blending/ open product) areas. In the non-processing areas (enclosed products) we are scraping the ceiling each year to try to ward off the peeling. This is about a 15,000 sq. ft. facility. This issue now, which the FDA kindly pointed out to us during our last inspection, is that we had a few missing tiles in the processing (open product) area

 

We have a plan in place, that whenever tiles fall (which can be due to air movement, water spray, vibration of equipment, etc...) that they are to be replaced immediately. Which is working for now. However, they are falling CONSTANTLY!

 

I am writing for ideas for long-term fixes. There is excessive piping in the ceiling and very frequent piping changes requiring easy access, and due to the nature of our batching they are soiled and in need of cleaning often as well ( we had discussed gluing some into place and COP). I attached a photo. 

 

Does anyone have any ideas?? Or can anyone recommend an industrial ceiling fabricator? 

 

Thank you!!

Allison

Attached Files

•  20140507_154308.jpg   81.7KB   3 downloads

[Slab]

Hi, Allison;

 

Why are the tiles falling?  Is it moisture rotting the tiles, poor suspension grid, shifting from maintenance? It's hard to say without looking at the facility what the best option would be.

I would recommend contacting a company that works in USDA/FDA approved materials and installation.  A great product is manufactured by Parkland; The tiles are light, waterproof, sold by common commercial sizes (normally 2'x4'), and easy to size with utility knives or hole saws.  You can also contact the company directly and ask them for local contractors that specialize in this matter.  If you don't need the contractor then the product is available at stores such as Lowes, Home Depot, etc.

 

And welcome to the forums! 

[AllisonB]

Thank you for the welcome! Im new to Food Safety in general and this forum has been a huge help. 

 

The tiles are falling for a few reasons: Weak grid, air movement from the bay doors nearby, being splashed too hard, vibrations from the equipment, poor fitting,  looking at them wrong (or so it seems anyway  )

I think we may be using a product similar to what you are describing. They are light, waterproof and most are 2x4 - we tried going down to 2x2 on some of them hoping it would help, but it didnt. They are made of a plastic glassboard type material that are cut to size and can be cut for holes and such.

 

Im just at a loss for what to do about it, and I dont have many contacts in the food safe fabrication business. We are thinking our best option may be to glue them in but I didnt know how FDA/BRC/ auditors in general would feel about this 

 

Thanks for the suggestions!

[SLadd]

We have a similar peeling ceiling issue, luckily it's over an area where the product is already in cases. However, we would still get audit hits on it, mostly because it's an easy hit. But anyway, we purchased FRP panels (I have no idea what that stands for - it looks like thicker plastic ceiling tile to me) and screwed the buggers straight to the ceiling covering the peeling paint and with no drop ceiling aggravation. The panels are costly, but once it's done, it's done and the panels can be cut around and tucked behind piping making them easily accessible for the things we do with piping. The panels are water proof, easy to clean and nearly indestructible, we manufacture a high acid product that eats through our concrete flooring over time but these panels cover the walls without any issue. I guess that's why they cost so much! Good Luck!

[AllisonB]

SLadd,

 

Thank you for the reply! I think FRP is Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic. I actually looked into this - but the issue for us is that the ceiling is not flat, it is corrugated so if we did this it would be considered an area where there could be pest harborage. 

 

I actually found a company nearby (thankfully) that specializes in food - plant engineering and I have someone coming in to do a consultation. I am hoping that he has some good options for us. I will give an update when I know.

 

Thanks again!!!