Protective clothing (7.4), removing overalls before bathroom or eating
Hello everyone,
Could anyone share experiences or information regarding the fact that BRC 7.4.1 requires that employees should remove protective clothings/work clothing when using the bathrooms or lunchrooms.
Has anyone made a risk analysis that proves that it is unnecessary in a dry environment (confectionery).
Thank you
GD
My take Giselanedise,
Good manufacturing practices will necessitate removal of PPE once out of production area.
Even without a risk analysis this is a risk averse practice.
We introduced removable long white coats for Packing Ops to enable them to hang them up before leaving the Production Area for breaks (toilet & meal). These are laundered at the end of the shift. For personnel (men) wearing T shirts - they have to change their T shirts into their own clothes when going for meal breaks. When going for toilet breaks they have to cover their T shirts with a short white coat before leaving the Production Area. It's a faff but it works.
Hello everyone,
Could anyone share experiences or information regarding the fact that BRC 7.4.1 requires that employees should remove protective clothings/work clothing when using the bathrooms or lunchrooms.
Has anyone made a risk analysis that proves that it is unnecessary in a dry environment (confectionery).
Thank you
GD
Hi giseladenise,
Are any of the Production Zones classified (BRC) high risk/care ?
Maybe see the discussion in this thread -
I used to work in confectionery many moons ago. The gowning procedures were frankly rubbish. Shop floor staff used to wear white trousers and t-shirts and managers wore white coats. These were worn to bathrooms, canteen even in meeting rooms!
Can you risk assess this away? Not really in my opinion. Honestly, I would change practices. The most sensible thing to do is to bring in knee (or longer) length coats which are worn over the top of outdoor clothing. Ideally mob caps should be put on at the start of the day and left on then the coats can be put on, hands washed etc, every time you enter a production area and removed on leaving. I still remember now thinking "this is bonkers" when I was wondering around site including outside in my supposedly "hygienic" clothing. Yes the risks aren't as great but my real concern would be allergen cross contamination and taint. It also creates a better image and sense of entering a "clean area" if a clothing change accompanies it.
I've also worked in bakery where coats aren't an option due to heat. Staff had to change fully to leave and go to the toilet, smoke etc. Compliance was terrible as you can imagine.
Hi everybody,
I appreciate every comments. How come after years we never heard about nobody making a recall because uniform's cross contamination. What are the possibilities that bacterias can grow on plant uniforms? And if we consider that employees have only 30 minutes for lunch, we cannot imagine how possible it is to change and have time to eat and change back again. In this case, we do not have high risk zones so I am trying to figure up if this item is really appropriate for our operation.
GD
Hello giseladenise,
We are not only controlling biological hazard. We have physical and chemical hazards. Your PPE can be contaminated with physical hazards such as insect parts, broken glasses etc. Chemical contamination cleaning agent and allergens which come in contact with their hands during dining and could pass into the PPE. Need not to wait to see a product recall before acting on it.
regards,
redfox
Hi everybody,
I appreciate every comments. How come after years we never heard about nobody making a recall because uniform's cross contamination. What are the possibilities that bacterias can grow on plant uniforms? And if we consider that employees have only 30 minutes for lunch, we cannot imagine how possible it is to change and have time to eat and change back again. In this case, we do not have high risk zones so I am trying to figure up if this item is really appropriate for our operation.
GD
Once Again Giseladenise,
Recall cases can hardly identify uniforms as a source of crosscontamination but rather personel hygiene.The assumption is the personel poor hygienic practices have have exposed the coat to zones that are likely to have more contaminants.
I have witnessed staff drying their hands with PPEs or even personal clothing while moving out of the washroom...
In one case I actually wanted a camera put in the washroom to supervise....Against the law I hear...but i just wanted the camera at the handwashing immediately from the washroom.
Anyway my school of thought will always require PPE control
Hi everybody,
I appreciate every comments. How come after years we never heard about nobody making a recall because uniform's cross contamination. What are the possibilities that bacterias can grow on plant uniforms? And if we consider that employees have only 30 minutes for lunch, we cannot imagine how possible it is to change and have time to eat and change back again. In this case, we do not have high risk zones so I am trying to figure up if this item is really appropriate for our operation.
GD
Difficult to quantify. As I said before, compliance is an issue because of the design of the uniforms. I'd redesign them then the issue goes away.
I used to have a similar viewpoint that if something hasn't been shown to be an issue, I was sceptical, however, a few years ago, I used to work at a factory where we had a barrier control issue. We'd been doing the same thing for 20 years plus with no issue then they had an issue which almost closed the site. I learned a very important lesson. If something is wrong in terms of control and presents a theoretical risk, I now always try and address it before it becomes a problem. As others have said if you did have an issue it might not be assigned to the work wear anyway. It's worth having a look on youtube, there is an excellent video out there on the risks of cross contamination of bacteria and droplets which are spread on toilet flushing. Personally if you can do something to get rid of the risk, even if it's small I would. The other point is how you could justify people eating their food which may well contain allergens in the clothing they then work in the factory in.
All round, personally, I'd change for coats. The risk might be small but I still see it as a risk and why live with a risk you don't need to?
There are lots of options available for inexpensive PPE, we use "lab coats" over street cloths (RTC facility) are disposable arm covers for specific positions.....work shoes are NOT permitted outside and neither are lab coats or hairnets, and I have issued written warnings for these offensives. Your program is a living breathing entity, change as you must to remain in compliance, but there should never be any production room clothing in the bathroom or lunch room (unless of course there has been an injury...worker H&S trumps all)
Why overalls in the first place, what was the rationale????
We have a policy that all processing/exposed product area personnel wear frocks over either uniforms or street clothes.
PPE is defined as the disposables, i.e. gloves sleeve guards, aprons, etc...
These are removed prior to leaving the work area, and frocks are left in location for break times.
We also monitor the frocks and foot ware through the environmental monitoring program and have performed a risk assessment.
Hope this helps!