Is it ok to cover an abscess with a non-blue/non-detectable plaster?

So I am a quality assurance manager/technical manager and my team is all of 1 (me).

I’ve been off recently due to a growth on my face/neck which has had me in hospital but my suspected abscess has not been removed as of yet and I am due for surgery within the next week or two.

I checked food handles advice from my local government body and I am able to enter production as long as the abscess is covered which it is with large and I mean LARGE plasters with an otiment on it to help the absences. However, the plaster isn’t blue and isn’t metal detectable as all our policies state. I can’t get any online which are large enough or sterile which I can put on my face to allow me onto the production floor. I am due my brc unannounced any day. I NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO MY JOB!!!

If I risk assess my situation with the plaster from the hospital would that be enough to cover myself and also cover ourselves if we receive our audits that I am within the food handling areas?

Such a sticky situation.

Thanks,
IL

Dear Irishlass 105,

 

If you do a risk assessment and demonstrate there is no risk that your plaster contaminates the product, I will accept this during BRC audit. Unless... I disagree with you and see a risk on contamination.

The hard thing is to convince your staff that you allowed to handle like this, while the rules you probably overload them with, say something else.

 

Is it perhaps possible that you wear a disposable astrocap over your face/neck?

Then there will be an extra cover over the plaster and you don't have to argue with production staff.

 

 

(Disclaimer due to the fact that I am not your auditor, I can not guarantee that all auditors would accept this)

 

 

Such a sticky situation.

Nicely done. :)

 

I would add additional controls to ensure that no fragments of the plaster would reasonably enter the product. A non-elegant solution would be to cover the area with fabric which would contain anything that fell off. I might recommend an embarassing but none-the-less risk management step of wearing a scarf to completely cover the neck area, or use some sort of head cover that covers from the head down into the clothing/smock such as a mosquito net or beekeeper net.

 

https://www.humblebe...gBoClrEQAvD_BwE

 

Ridiculous to wear, but would very much be a reasonable measure to take to help you control for the risk.

So I am a quality assurance manager/technical manager and my team is all of 1 (me).

I’ve been off recently due to a growth on my face/neck which has had me in hospital but my suspected abscess has not been removed as of yet and I am due for surgery within the next week or two.

I checked food handles advice from my local government body and I am able to enter production as long as the abscess is covered which it is with large and I mean LARGE plasters with an otiment on it to help the absences. However, the plaster isn’t blue and isn’t metal detectable as all our policies state. I can’t get any online which are large enough or sterile which I can put on my face to allow me onto the production floor. I am due my brc unannounced any day. I NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO MY JOB!!!

If I risk assess my situation with the plaster from the hospital would that be enough to cover myself and also cover ourselves if we receive our audits that I am within the food handling areas?

Such a sticky situation.

Thanks,
IL

Irishlass105 Hi,  Ive experienced someone with a similar issue and as said above we risk assessed the situation, The person wore a full head snood tucked into the jacket and the dressing was checked after returning from the factory floor. As you probably wouldn't be permanently in the factory the risk is a little less and as you have a job of responsibility i imagine you are trusted to follow the instruction you decide to carryout where possibly a floor worker wouldnt necessarily 'notice' or check it was missing regularly enough meaning the risk is far higher. AS long as you can prove its been properly considered there should be no issue    

When we have had similar issues we have allowed the non blue dressing but stated that it should be secured with blue plasters so it could be found if lost. I cant see this being an issue if you are only touring the factory and not working in there for the day. staff who have suffered burns and need large dressings are usually moved in to a low risk area (e.g packing) and the dressing is monitored at regular intervals