17 replies to this topic

[scottsc]

Hi all,

 

I just finished up an SQF audit with a score of 94. Not bad, not great. I was dinged for things like not having a spill kit in the laundry room and a piece of tape the size of a postage stamp stuck on a piece of equipment not in use, etc, etc...easy fixes. However, what  really surprised me was the auditor searching through the employee lockers not once but twice. I have not seen this during the course of any audit before and I am curious if anyone else has had an auditor do this. I would like to do some training with the staff regarding what is and isn't allowed in their lockers but I have not been able to find any guidance on the topic. Is this part of a code somewhere and I've missed it?

 

Thanks any advice,

 

Scott

[ladytygrr]

Scott,

 

I have not been through an audit but that sounds weird to my inexperienced self. I am very interested to hear what others' experiences have been.

 

Thank you for bringing this up.

 

~Emily~

[QAChantelle]

I don't know if it is a standard, but from what I understood was if the locker wasn't already open they couldn't look. Also, in my past experience food was never to be stored in our personal locker. We had a separate area to store our lunch boxes on open racks.

 

Thank you.

[MlissaB]

Not sure if this will help because it isn't SQF and it's on the packaging side, however; here goes...

 

Both BRC and AIB cover what can and can't be in lockers and both clearly state that open food/drink should not be stored there. If this is true for the packaging standards I would find it hard to believe that it isn't true for the food standards. With that in mind, once you establish the policy around what is and isn't allowed you need to monitor it effectively during your self inspections. I have a lot of experience with AIB inspections and am getting some with BRC inspections and the auditors I've dealt with have always looked in lockers as well as asking to review our locker inspection log.

 

Hope this helps!

[gfdoucette07]

I do not believe it is a "direct" standard but it has been common practice in both SQF and BRC at least in my experiance for them to check EE lockers.  They are normally inspected in BRC under 3 sections pest control, GMPs, and staff facilities.  In staff facilities BRC states "street and work clothes shall be stored seperatly" so checking for that.  If your GMPs state "no food in locker room or other than designated areas they will be looking for food/drink stored in lockers.  This also ties into pest control if there is contraban stored in lockers pest will find it. 

 

Attached is a posting I put up and covered at food safety training,  I also conduct 2x yr locker inspections where everyone is required to open them up and show me their contents, because after all they are company property if you didnt want me to see it dont bring it to work.

Attached Files

•  2-23 QA posting.docx   110.95KB   334 downloads

[johnwandzala]

This practice sounds to me very similar to the 'undocumented' Good Documentation Practices enforced by FDA auditors... meaning nowhere is it stated in 21CFR that crossing out blank spaces in records (for example) is a requirement, but the auditors nonetheless inspect for it. I think it would make a good forum topic, something like - Best practices for auditees that you won't find in standards - based soley on auditees' experiences with auditors.

[CMHeywood]

I believe SQF requires that employees store their meals in an appropriate area (lunch room) which implies that they should not be storing food in their lockers.  You should have a policy of what and what not is allowed in lockers:  food, guns, chemicals, etc.  If you have a policy like this you should be auditing lockers for compliance, otherwise your policy means nothing.  If you are checking lockers, then the auditor expects that he will be able to check lockers.  Unfortunately, your employees may consider lockers, tool boxes, etc. to be private property.  However, anything brought onto company property has to be subject to inspection.

[erin.m.v]

In the two SQF audits that I have participated in, each auditor looked inside one unlocked locker (without asking), but never asked to look inside any of the lockers with padlocks on them. 

 

This is an area that my facility needs to improve on, so I look forward to getting more input from others.

[MM1]

In my past SQF audits auditors have walked into locker rooms but only once they requested to see what is stored inside, just because the employee was opening it while we were there.

[Charles.C]

IMEX inspection of personal lockers for any audit can be a highly sensitive item for auditor/auditee and Company. Unexpected finds are legendary and not always anecdotal.  A potential for accusations based on circumstantial evidence exists.

 

I tried to find any specifics in a few SQF 7.2 Code Modules/Guidances and BRC7 Code for this topic. The nearest mention I could find in either Standard was text similar to “facilities ….shall be provided” ?

 

In some locations, valuables may be routinely stored within such lockers, eg Gold, Jewelry, Bank Deposit Books. And no Hotel-like disclaimer.

 

As for Policy, Top Managements often tip-toe very carefully round this issue.

[Madam A. D-tor]

The answer of an auditor:

 

Yes, we do and should check the lockers on the items named by gfdoucette07.

However in some countries this can be seen as an insult on privacy.

 

Therefore:

-  I check the lockers that are left open by the workers;

- walks in the changing rooms around the breaks and ask the employees if I can check their lockers;

- ask if their is a master key and if the plant manager is allowed to open the lockers;

- ask the staff that is accompanying me to open their lockers;

- ask if they ever check the employee's lockers by their selves.

 

I think the last point is important.

Like Charles said, sometimes some unpleasure surprises are found in the lockers.

Companies around here, that do check the lockers, do it:

- announced;

- in present of the user of the locker.

They are looking for:

- cleanliness;

- pests;

- knives/weapons;

- company owned items (theft);

- food and other contamination risks.

[scottsc]

The auditor did not find anything he shouldn't have. It was just a little surprising since the two previous auditors did not search the lockers and this auditor did it twice. I will explain this during the next GMP refresher session and I think that the staff will understand.

 

Excellent information everyone!

 

Thank you,

 

Scott

[prashantha h k]

where and how the employees are placed there cloths in lockers. 

 

we faced brc audit auditor says not put the cloths in lockers. my queation is why we alot lockers to employees if aprons and cloths not put in locker.

[prashantha h k]

where and how the employees are placed there cloths in lockers. 

 

we faced brc audit auditor says not put the cloths in lockers. my queation is why we alot lockers to employees if aprons and cloths not put in locker.

[SQFconsultant]

As first a 2nd and 3rd party and then an SQF auditor I routinely checked lockers for a number of things.

It was almost always anazing what came up in those checks especially when the company itself did not inspect lockers on a routine basis.

[pHruit]

where and how the employees are placed there cloths in lockers. 

 

we faced brc audit auditor says not put the cloths in lockers. my queation is why we alot lockers to employees if aprons and cloths not put in locker.

What is the specific situation the auditor found? Was this personal/outdoor clothing in the same lockers as work clothes?

I don't have a copy of Issue 9 on this computer, but in Issue 8 you may want to have a look at 4.8.3:

Outdoor clothing and personal items shall be stored separately from production clothing within the changing facilities. Facilities shall be available to separate clean and dirty clothing.

 

There is more detail in the corresponding section of the Interpretation Guide on way to address this (e.g. protective bags, dividers) if it isn't feasible to provide a separate locker/storage area for factory clothing.

 

I agree with Glenn that it's entirely expected that auditors may want to rummage through lockers, for exactly this type of reason. You may want to add this to your own internal audit schedules (and also check that your code of conduct / employment policies / employment contracts include scope for you to be able to do this ).

[CMHeywood]

Sometimes you cannot have one locker for both street clothes and work clothes.  Any contamination on street clothes can transfer to the work clothers and contaminate aprons, etc.  That's why some companies that provide work clothes often keep them separate.

 

Also, employees should not be storing food, drugs, etc. in lockers.  It is amazing to see what are in lockers if you haven't inspected in a long time.

 

Thus it is entirely reasonable for an auditor to check employee lockers, and to see if you are checking the lockers.

[Scampi]

Lockers should NEVER be used for:

 

Food

Medications

PPE (aprons, gloves etc)

 

This is standard practice

 

Lockers should also be cleaned on a schedule----post it ahead of time so all employees can remove the locks are their personnel items