6 replies to this topic

[Nissie]

Hi,

 

It has been asked of me to create a uniform policy for the entire plant. There is a policy that was created before both my boss and I came aboard but now he has requested a new one from the ground up. I have no idea where to begin with this. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

Jernise.

[Andy_Yellows]

Bets place to start would be to go through your food safety standard to have a look at any stipulations mentioned (regarding jewellery/accessories, wearing of hairnets/aprons/footwear, cleanliness of garments etc.) and write them into your policy. Probably worth mentioning that the policy is written to ensure compliance with your food safety standard.

 

Regards,

 

Andy

[Charles.C]

Hi,

 

It has been asked of me to create a uniform policy for the entire plant. There is a policy that was created before both my boss and I came aboard but now he has requested a new one from the ground up. I have no idea where to begin with this. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

Jernise.

 

Hi Nissie,

 

An approppriate Policy may relate to yr product / yr process / yr intended FS Standard (if any) ???

 

Is it possible to post yr current  Uniform Policy ?

 

May i ask why yr Boss wants a new one ?

[Peaches]

Maybe start with a list of what you are currently doing (might be different in each department) and compare to the requirements of the standard you are being audited against (BRC, SQF, etc).  Then perform a risk assessment on your current practices.  For example you may currently allow your employees to wear their uniforms from home as long as they are clean.  Based on your plant and level of product risk you can determine if this still makes sense or if employees need to start changing at work.  Hope that helps. 

[dfreund]

After your risk assessment is done form a temporary group from the rank and file to work out the details and style within guidelines you have established.  Having instant buy in from some influential personnel will get the new program off the ground.

After the uniform policy is implemented, stay at top enforcement for 90days to 6 months.  "You only get the excuses you accept" is a quote from one of my best managers for enforcing uniform policy.

 

Good luck, it is a task that will never have 100% happy campers.

[Nissie]

Hello, Sorry for the delayed reply and thank you for all of your responses, they are much appreciated. I have pasted what we currently have as far as a uniform policy and this is coming from our GMP policy. He wants a new one because we don't really have one. 

 

Personal Hygiene and Practices:

A.       All employees are expected to bathe regularly and wear clean clothing and shoes (maintained, stored, and laundered) to work so as not to present a contamination risk to products.

B.       Hair should be clean and well groomed.

C.       All employees are instructed to report any exposure to a communicable disease, and all illnesses, open cuts or sores to their supervisor immediately.  Bandages on hands must be covered by a glove to remove the threat of it falling into food or on to food contact surfaces or in food packaging material. Company issued bandages will be blue and metal detectable. You must replace bandages on your hands and fingers with the blue bandages available in the QA lab even if the injury occurred away from work.

D.      Smoking, eating, drinking, chewing or spitting is not permitted in any food processing or food handling areas. No food or food containers, tobacco products, gum, candy, or beverages other than water are allowed in the production or warehouse areas. Food and beverages shall be stored and consumed only in designated areas. Designated areas include break room and private offices only.

E.       Smoking is allowed only in designated areas. By Oregon law, smoking must be done at least 10 feet away from doors, windows, or air intake areas. You must throw used cigarettes into the ash can, not onto the ground or in the bushes. This is to prevent cigarettes from becoming foreign material in our products.

F.       You are required to wash your hands with soap and water before working on the production line.  This includes:

                           i.            At the beginning of your shift.  

                         ii.            After breaks or lunch.

                       iii.            After picking up hoses and other items from the floor.

                       iv.            After dumping garbage.

                         v.            After using a handkerchief.

                       vi.            After smoking, eating, or drinking.

                      vii.            After each visit to the restroom. In this case you must wash your hands twice. Once before you leave the restroom and once when you enter production before returning to work.

                    viii.            Thoroughly wash and dry hands when entering the production area and anytime hands become soiled.

                        ix.            After handling an allergen.

Note: You must wash your hands even if you will be wearing gloves to perform your job.  

 

Using Gloves:

A.       Gloves must be worn at all times when handling food products or related items. Do not handle food or raw materials directly with your hands. Do not touch the insides of plastic or glass containers directly with your hands.

B.       Gloves are required to be maintained in an intact, clean, and sanitary manner. Gloves are required for employees with band aids on hands and anytime you must touch product or food contact areas of packaging (inside bottles, jars, or lids).

C.       All hand washing procedures must be maintained. If you are wearing gloves you hands may still become dirty.

D.      You must wash or change your gloves after picking up items from the floor or dumping garbage.

E.       Gloves need to be changed after each break, upon re-entry, whenever they are soiled and whenever you leave the production area.

 

Clothing:

A.       Hairnets must be worn when entering the processing or warehouse areas. All hair must be contained within the hairnet.  Beard nets are required for any facial hair and must cover both beard and moustache. 

                                                                  i.      Permanent employees must wear white hairnets.

                                                                ii.      Temporary employees must wear red hairnets.

                                                               iii.      Visitors must wear green hairnets.

B.       Except for safety gear, hats are not allowed.  All other types of head coverings must be kept clean and must be completely covered by a hairnet.

C.       Clothing including shoes shall be clean at the commencement of each shift and maintained in a serviceable condition.

D.      Shoes must be closed toe and NON-SLIP at a minimum, TBF has implemented a Safety Shoe Program in which all employee’s are required to wear NON-SLIP, Water Resistant shoes provided by the company through Red Wing while on the production floor.

E.       All employees must step into the footbath prior to washing hands to assure clean shoes.

F.       Excessively soiled uniforms shall be changed where they present a product contamination risk. The company will provide uniforms that are to be changed whenever excessively wet or dirty, or after an allergen is run.  Uniforms needing repair are to be tagged for the laundry service.  You are expected to remove your uniform before entering the rest room or exiting the building and hang them on designated hooks.  DO NOT TAKE UNIFORMS FROM THE BUILDING.  Your street clothes are to be clean, well-fitting, and in good repair, with no tears, holes, strings or loose threads.  Jackets or sweaters are to be worn underneath your uniform (Except for warehouse personal when going outside). Street clothes are not to be hung on hooks designated for uniforms (there are signs above the racks specifying its use, personal or uniforms). Uniforms are to be removed and hung on designated “uniform only” hooks before eating.

G.      Coconut production personnel are required to wear specially designated uniforms that are distinguished by color (Dark Blue) and design from uniforms worn in other areas of production. These uniforms must be removed and hung in designated areas located near the coconut production rooms before leaving the allergen processing area’s. These uniforms can only be worn in the coconut processing rooms by coconut production personnel.

               

Jewelry and Personal Effects:

A.       No items (i.e. pens, pencils, tools,) are to be stored in pockets above the waist.

B.       No jewelry: Body Piercings, Earrings, Rings, Watches, Necklaces (unless medical) etc. or fingernail polish allowed. Plain wedding bands with no stones attached may be allowed. Jewelry is not easily sanitized, and stones may break and fall into product and create a food safety issue. 

C.       Medical Alert jewelry is permitted, but is restricted to necklaces which are to be worn under outer clothing.

D.      No personal items are allowed on the plant floor.  This includes jackets, sweaters, purses, cell phones, cameras, IPods, MP3 players, radios, etc. unless they are supplied by the company and required to perform your job.

E.       All food or drink carried through production; packaging or warehousing areas must be wrapped and/or covered. 

F.       Water bottles must have an attached lid to be on the Production floor and stored in the designated area, hand washing must be completed after drinking.

G.      Toothpicks, match sticks, pens or similar objects may not be held in one’s mouth.

[Charles.C]

Hi Nissie,

 

Thks for reply/example.

 

I am a little confused.

 

Please clarify whether by  "uniform" you mean the Adjective or the Noun ?

Also - is there a specific FS Standard involved ??

Also -  the specific responses may relate to yr "business" (see Post 3)

 

If the Noun this may exclude some portions of yr posted example. If the Adjective, the logical query is a "uniform" Policy for What ? eg GMP ?

 

If Noun can try a few previous Forum threads, eg  -

 

http://www.ifsqn.com...uniform-policy/

 

http://www.ifsqn.com...uniform-policy/

(see attachment Post 3 et seq)

 

Two extracted examples of the Noun -

 

Maintain an effective, well written uniform and/or shoe policy. Following are some examples from leading industry practices:
 
•      If plant-issued footwear is used in the PSCA to minimize transportation of Salmonella (and other potential contaminants) from the outdoors into the production area, they should not be worn in the restrooms.    
•      For contractors and visitors, shoe covers should be made available and worn over street shoes upon entry into the production area.  Each time they re-enter the production area, they should put on a new shoe cover.  
•      Require a cover or jacket over plant clothing if individuals elect to smoke, or go outdoors to eat lunch or take their breaks.  If employees leave the facility grounds, they must dress out of their uniforms.   
•      Uniforms should not be stored in lockers next to personal clothing, as an additional measure to minimize any potential contaminants from being brought into the production zone.
•      These and any other modifications to your specific uniform policy should be fully documented including the risk assessment conducted. All employees must be trained with routine GMP audits performed to verify compliance.

 

 

 

9.3.3     Clothing

9.3.3.1  Clothing worn by staff engaged in handling products shall be maintained, stored, laundered and worn so as not to present a contamination risk to the products. 

9.3.3.2  Staff engaged in high risk areas shall change into clean clothing when entering high risk areas.

9.3.3.3  Clothing  shall  be  clean  at  the  commencement  of  each  shift  and  maintained  in  a  serviceable  condition. Excessively soiled uniforms shall be changed where they present a product contamination risk.

9.3.3.4  Disposable gloves and aprons shall be changed after each break, upon re-entry into the processing area and when damaged.  

9.3.3.5  Non-disposable aprons and gloves shall be cleaned and sanitized as required and when not in use stored on racks provided in the processing area and not on packaging, ingredients, product or equipment

 

 

 

Policies often intermingle with Procedures, eg -

 

 AIB Unifom Policy.pdf   117.95KB   158 downloads

 

and some more, somewhat promotional, suggestions -

 

http://uniform.clean...food-production