Preventing contamination issues with trench drains under machinery?

Hello

Does anyone have experience in preventing contamination issues with trench drains under machinery? I have an issue with a piece of machinery that processes raw product that sits over a trench drain that has a grate over it. The product goes into a kill step after but there is concern about aerated contamination happening from the trench drain due to its design and proximity.

Thanks for your help

Hi jkat,

Welcome to the forum ! :welcome:

 I deduce that yr risk assessment has concluded that a significant cross-contamination hazard exists to exposed raw material.

Sounds like Processing Hygiene 101.

Either (a) Move the machinery. Or (b) modify  the source/vector of the contamination hazard so as to acceptably reduce the risk.

Practical solutions likely relate to what you are doing, eg  the specific product/process configuration.

Thanks Charles

We are concerned about splash back and aeration of contaminates from the drain. No options on moving the equipment due to lack of space so we would have to create a system to off set the run off from the machine or create covers for drain to minimize the aeration and splash back. We are concerned about SQF auditing because this will be our first year so we are trouble shooting issues such as this.

Are you doing any testing of the drain to see if your concerns are warranted?

Also as well as putting a cover over the drain, is it cleanable and cleaned regularly, for example whenever you do a machine clean down following production.  Once you are doing everything you can to minimise any contamination then you can do some testing as Setanta advises to see if any risk.

Have a nice weekend. :thumbup:

Regards,

Simon

Thank you for the advice. All are great suggestions that I will definitely be passing on. We do have an environmental swabbing program but it is also in it's infancy so maybe this particular drain will have to be on a high risk list and be swabbed at a higher frequency and cleaned at a high frequency also.

Thanks Charles

 

We are concerned about splash back and aeration of contaminates from the drain. No options on moving the equipment due to lack of space so we would have to create a system to off set the run off from the machine or create covers for drain to minimize the aeration and splash back. We are concerned about SQF auditing because this will be our first year so we are trouble shooting issues such as this.

Hi jkat,

I don't have direct experience of SQF but when auditing factories, this kind of practical oddity is one of the first kind of visual items I would be looking into.

The problem is that IMO it goes against basic hygiene logic so you will need a strong validation to justify its acceptance.

You will see other threads here regarding the minimum floor clearance for machinery using exposed products. This is just for a random floor surface. Now add a semi-open drain and you can see the risk go  ^^^.

Simon's suggestion is what many factories do since at least it "looks" not unreasonable. But depending on the location, some heavy duty, non rustable, "panes" may be involved. The first objectants are usually the clean-up crew. :smile:

Hi Jkat!

I worked in food microbiology lab for a while and most of our clients had drains, though I don't think they were usually directly under the machinery. They did intense cleanings of each drain every day and did swabs every day to every week depending on the size of their plants to validate their cleaning. Drains were the most likely place to have high counts/ positive results and they would usually have to have three clean results in a row before being allowed to use the machinery again. If I were in your position, I would make sure to have drain cleaning in your cleaning and sanitation schedule and do swabs of the drain to validate the machinery is safe to use when it is over the drain. I hope this helps!

This is will be my suggestion going forward since the machinery cannot be moved this will be a very high risk area for contamination. 

Thanks for the input

Thank you for the advice. All are great suggestions that I will definitely be passing on. We do have an environmental swabbing program but it is also in it's infancy so maybe this particular drain will have to be on a high risk list and be swabbed at a higher frequency and cleaned at a high frequency also.

Hi jkat,

we have the same issue, drain under the machine can you please share your experience ? 

Now is this a trench (i.e. a gulley) which then runs into a drain at one end (not under the machinery)?  If so, then I don't see a massive issue.  Ok, it's not ideal but it is just an indentation in the floor to aid flow to the eventual drain.  If it is managed including minimum daily cleaning of both the drain and the drain cover, it shouldn't present a huge risk.  I agree that given the choice you wouldn't put it over the trench but you can't change your starting point.

What makes you think you will have aerosols from the drain?  Is there a large quantity of water going down or are you using a lot of hose cleaning?  If so, I would change what practices you can and ban hoses.  If you do have aerosol issues, it would still be a problem if you're causing them to be created from a drain even if the gulley wasn't under the machine.  If the issue is run off from the machine, I would see if it's possible to stop this or duct directly to drain.

we don't have a gully drain. we have  a small ceramic drain under the machine plus our drains are not separated from the one in the kitchen and bathroom .

we don't have a gully drain. we have  a small ceramic drain under the machine plus our drains are not separated from the one in the kitchen and bathroom .

Ah then I see the issue!