42 replies to this topic

[Snookie]

 

Are Daisy Dukes (very short shorts?)OK?

 

Definitely not as most of the people who wear them shouldn't be and the view is not attractive!!   

 

Deep breathes Setanta......

[Setanta]

I'm better now. Thanks!

I have just HAD this argument time and time again.

[Tony-C]

What is the issue with Capri pants?  If you ankles are cool - then you are cool?  I too am currently having this issue with my new plant.

Where in the regulation can you fight this issue?  I get challenged all the time to site the regulation and have yet to find the FDA/SQF/BRC regulation to quote.

 

Generally production staff have protective clothing that covers their legs. There is little risk in having exposed legs other than H & S. Specific clothing for high risk/high care production facilities would normally cover the legs and specific dedicated footwear would be required.

 

A lot of organizations give Lab coats to visitors other than when entering high risk/high care facilities. This means wearing skirts or capri pants is within the bounds of the company policy. Some standards refer to 'above the waist' in terms of specifying 'no pockets or buttons' but do not specify a requirement for legs to be covered.

 

My dream.....

Lots of chocolate to eat...

Lots of good food, wine and beer

Lots of good books,

A lovely mountain view

Peace and quiet

Did I say chocolate.......Ahhhh

 

I'm living your dream except have a sea & mountain view and don't really eat chocolate on its own but made a chocolate/black cherry panna cotta *** (luxury version without gelatin - fresh cream, chocolate, cherries, sugar, lemon juice) last weekend and it was scrumptious, truly scrumptious!

 

Regards,

 

Tony

 

*** Not for those that count calories!

Edited by Tony-C, 09 July 2014 - 07:27 PM.

[Snookie]

Generally production staff have protective clothing that covers their legs. There is little risk in having exposed legs other than H & S. Specific clothing for high risk/high care production facilities would normally cover the legs and specific dedicated footwear would be required.

 

A lot of organizations give Lab coats to visitors other than when entering high risk/high care facilities. This means wearing skirts or capri pants is within the bounds of the company policy. Some standards refer to 'above the waist' in terms of specifying 'no pockets or buttons' but do not specify a requirement for legs to be covered.

 

 

I'm living your dream except have a sea & mountain view and don't really eat chocolate on its own but made a chocolate/black cherry panna cotta *** (luxury version without gelatin - fresh cream, chocolate, cherries, sugar, lemon juice) last weekend and it was scrumptious, truly scrumptious!

 

Regards,

 

Tony

 

*** Not for those that count calories!

 

Sea and ocean view are nice and can be a nice change from the mountains.  Your panna cotta has me drooling and I agree those calories definitely don't count. 

[Dharmadi Sadeli Putra]

IMO, there's should be an exception for rescue officer in emergency case  (fire, earthquake, CPR) and DEA's drugs operation

[Tony-C]

Sea and ocean view are nice and can be a nice change from the mountains.  Your panna cotta has me drooling and I agree those calories definitely don't count. 

 

 View over Bangrak from House Landscape.jpg   172.16KB   1 downloads

 

Unfortunately only a month or so left here ........

 

IMO, there's should be an exception for rescue officer in emergency case  (fire, earthquake, CPR) and DEA's drugs operation

 

Would that fall under crisis management/emergency procedures ? I can't see you continuing production during an earthquake or fire

[Dharmadi Sadeli Putra]

Would that fall under crisis management/emergency procedures ? I can't see you continuing production during an earthquake or fire

Yes you're right

[Rob Marriner]

The commitment of Administrative and Managerial employees is at the heart of the credibility of the food safety management activity. Perhaps inclusion of staff from these areas in the HACCP Team could consider the issue, and both spread the message through those parts of the organisation, and propose ways that can help in achieving the cooperation of those employees.

[Jim E.]

Would it not be easy to put it into the rules?  Every person that comes to work for us must go through orientation, that includes office staff.  We state right there and then long pants, coveralls or smock to be worn by all.  We do state that a skirt may be worn but if so the must wear leggings (yet to see anyone take us up on that in 13 years  ).  All visitors and inspectors must also follow the rules, have had on occasion deny access to any production areas. Had the odd auditor test us by leaving on an ring or watch and see if we catch them.  Needs to be set in place from the start and you should have no issues later. 

[triona.naidoo]

Hi Guys 

 

I work in a production facility (brandy, wine, and ready to drink alcoholic beverages). I would like to know your thoughts (taking into consideration BRC) on wearing shorts in a cellar.

We seem to have a problem that I am trying to get rid of, but having difficulty. Let me provide you with some background...the winemakers/ brandy makers are highly respected individuals in this industry (where the climate reaches sometimes 47 deg in summer)  and somehow feel that is appropriate for them only to wear shorts during the summer periods in the cellars. The cellars are basically really huge tanks, in which there is direct product contact, during harvest, transfers, etc.(bearing in mind this is an alcoholic product and there are filters etc after this)

 

The problem that I am having is that these shorts sometimes go way above the knee for male and female operators/winemakers. Firstly, to me this looks really unprofessional, as these individuals walk the plant as well as administrative buildings. Secondly, I don't really think this is "food safety/safety" appropriate. How do I win this battle? as some of these winemakers sit on the board of directors and can have a major influence. I want to avoid falling flat on my face, and rather get my ducks in a row, before approaching them on this matter. 

 

your opinion will be appreciated.

Thanks 

[Tony-C]

Hi Guys 

 

I work in a production facility (brandy, wine, and ready to drink alcoholic beverages). I would like to know your thoughts (taking into consideration BRC) on wearing shorts in a cellar.

We seem to have a problem that I am trying to get rid of, but having difficulty. Let me provide you with some background...the winemakers/ brandy makers are highly respected individuals in this industry (where the climate reaches sometimes 47 deg in summer)  and somehow feel that is appropriate for them only to wear shorts during the summer periods in the cellars. The cellars are basically really huge tanks, in which there is direct product contact, during harvest, transfers, etc.(bearing in mind this is an alcoholic product and there are filters etc after this)

 

The problem that I am having is that these shorts sometimes go way above the knee for male and female operators/winemakers. Firstly, to me this looks really unprofessional, as these individuals walk the plant as well as administrative buildings. Secondly, I don't really think this is "food safety/safety" appropriate. How do I win this battle? as some of these winemakers sit on the board of directors and can have a major influence. I want to avoid falling flat on my face, and rather get my ducks in a row, before approaching them on this matter. 

 

your opinion will be appreciated.

Thanks 

 

Rather than give you an opinion let's look at what BRC stipulate.

 

BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 7 States:
7.4.2 Protective clothing shall be available that:
• is of suitable design to prevent contamination of the product (as a minimum containing no external pockets above the waist or sewn-on buttons)

BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 7 Interpretation Guideline States:
The company is required to determine the procedures for application and use of protective clothing, based on a risk assessment.
The risk assessment must consider foreign-body, microbiological and allergen risks as appropriate, as well as general good practice principles.
The requirement to wear full company-issued protective clothing would not be an absolute requirement where all of the following criteria apply:
• all products are fully enclosed
• the product would, if it were not fully enclosed, be classed as a low-risk product
• the area is separate from areas containing open product
• staff do not need to pass through open product areas to access the area.

 

So there is a requirement to wear full company issued protective clothing but this is based on a risk assessment which must consider foreign-body, microbiological and allergen risks as appropriate, as well as general good practice principles.

 

Regards,

 

Tony

[JPO]

I have a dream...

someday i will get rich and build my own chocolate factory,

there's a hallway on the 2nd floor with a view to the processing line,

So you guys, can take a look to the production floor without remove your watch, jewelry, false fingernail, etc

I wish...

Our facility has roll-up doors at the entrances to the production areas.  The middle 3 panes of the doors (roughly knee to hands over your head height) are clear. 

 

When clients want to watch the operation, they stand behind the SUPER SECRET LINE of demarcation on the floor that separates production from non production space and they can see inside without gowning up.  

 

Don't let people in your facility that aren't following ALL the GMP's.  Not worth the risk. 

 

An "acceptable clothing" story of note:  Once upon a time in the early 90's, I worked for a company that employed several temporary employees during a phase of growth.  Our GMP policy at the time (I was a technician, not the QA manager) was rather lax for people at the far, far end of the line who were palletizing cased finished goods.  I suppose I could see the logic to some degree,the items were sealed in a case and not all that subject to contamination, but regardless, those folks didn't have to wear uniforms.  They could wear clean street clothes to stack boxes.

 

One day, a new temp showed up. She was a woman.  There's no polite way to put this, she had absolutely enormous breasts.  It was like there were two bald headed men wrestling under her shirt at all times.  She came in the first week or so with really, really, really low cut tops.  It was a safety hazard as 98% of the males on the floor weren't paying attention to their jobs, at all.  They were all craning around to see her work.  

 

Eventually we (not me, my supervisor) expanded the uniform policy as well as asked her politely (with the HUGE input from HR) to dress *slightly* more modestly.  

 

It was an interesting time to be me. 

[ladytygrr]

Good morning (afternoon to those of you across the pond), everyone!

 

Once again, I'm resurrecting a topic.

 

I am about 5 weeks into my employment here as Project/QA Manager at a very small production facility that makes RTE snack bars and bites. We are implementing an *official* HACCP system now and are planning to go for SQF L2 certification within the next 6 months or so.

 

I heard from production employees yesterday that we have recurring and serious breaches of our PPE requirements within our company that I have not yet witnessed first hand.   Issues include our Ops Mgr, during times of non-production, wearing hair net only, no lab coat as per the requirements he himself put in place, our owners walking through the production floor to access the conference room in shorts and flip flops, and outside maintenance workers being on the floor without any PPE whatsoever.  

 

This is insanity to me because our Ops Mgr implemented HACCP at a VERY large soda factory before joining our company so he definitely knows better. Our dress code and SOPs clearly indicate long pants, close toed shoes and PPE whenever on the Production floor.  

 

As I am still establishing and asserting myself and continually learning about food safety, my questions are:

 

1) Are there any times when PPE should be allowed to NOT be worn when on the Production floor (outside of emergency workers/situations)? 

=> My take is no: it's a Production floor and contamination can occur even when nothing is being produced but please set me on the right course if I'm off.

 

2) Does anyone have any suggestions on how to broach this subject with these individuals (Ops Mgr - who I report to on a day-to-day basis & owner(s) - who I "officially" report to on the org chart)? 

=> The best approach I can think of is to just let them know that floor employees have noticed the double standard and how 

it's so important to continually set good examples for them to ensure they also follow the rules at all times. 

 

 Any other suggestions? 

 

Thank you!

 

~Emily~

[johntstuart]

If you are on the production floor, you must follow the GMP's and wear your PPE.  Doesn't matter if its a customer, auditor, office clerk, or the president of the company.  While I cannot think of any legislation set down by a governing or certification body, every plant I have ever worked in has had very strict requirements set down regarding clothing and shoes.  The exact nature of these requirements is not specific in the legislation because each plant is different.  That said, the rules governing your plant should be focused around protecting your employees and your consumers.  With this in mind, it is my opinion that capris are not acceptable for a production environment for the primary reason that it leaves the employee more exposed to injury (e.g. cuts, scrapes, bruises) as well as increasing the chance of foreign material/microbiological contamination.

 

With the exception of jewelry that serves a medical purpose (Medical bracelets, necklaces, etc.), no jewelry should be worn on the line.  SQF requirements allow simple bands with no stones if it cannot be removed (SQF Code, 7th edition, 10.3.4.1). 

 

The major value that we as quality professionals provide to the companies we work for is trust.  People can trust our companies and the products that we make because we set down and enforce standards of food safety and quality. If the rules are not universally applied and enforced, we are not doing our jobs.

[johntstuart]

If you are on the production floor, you must follow the GMP's and wear your PPE.  Doesn't matter if its a customer, auditor, office clerk, or the president of the company.  While I cannot think of any legislation set down by a governing or certification body, every plant I have ever worked in has had very strict requirements set down regarding clothing and shoes.  

 

 Just to clarify, this sentence should read: While I cannot think of any legislation set down by a governing or certification body that specifically states what clothing is or is not acceptable, every plant I have ever worked in has had very strict requirements set down regarding clothing and shoes.

[Tony-C]

2) Does anyone have any suggestions on how to broach this subject with these individuals (Ops Mgr - who I report to on a day-to-day basis & owner(s) - who I "officially" report to on the org chart)? 

=> The best approach I can think of is to just let them know that floor employees have noticed the double standard and how 

it's so important to continually set good examples for them to ensure they also follow the rules at all times. 

 

 Any other suggestions? 

 

Thank you!

 

~Emily~

 

Yes I think that is a good softly softly approach to start with to address the problem Emily.

 

Regards,

 

Tony

[ladytygrr]

Thanks a bunch, Tony!

[Philip Jones]

Reading these posts brought me back to my fist job in a biscuit factory back in the early 80s.  It was a large company and regularly had quite high profile visitors.  It was an era before hairnets, bakers caps with attached net being more the norm up to that point, with trilby hats for visitors, though supplemented with hairnets for longer hair  .  We had two visits from Royalty, who had no problem with compliance and then a visit from Margaret Thatcher, complete with lacquered hairdo.  Trilby? No thanks!   Hairnet? No way!.  Luckily I was on holiday, so didn't have to confront the Iron Lady with my enforcement of standards.  The tour went ahead with her in a white coat but hair-do  on display. Put our factory standards enforcement back by about a year.