Jump to content

  • Quick Navigation
Photo

Drain Clogged-Food Plant Procedure

Share this

  • You cannot start a new topic
  • Please log in to reply
2 replies to this topic

ntheobold84

    Grade - Active

  • IFSQN Active
  • 11 posts
  • 2 thanks
0
Neutral

  • United States
    United States

Posted 08 February 2018 - 03:01 PM

Hello,

 

We recently had a drain backed up during sanitation while wet washing equipment.  We wet wash every night in our process.  I am looking for some guidance on what to do when a drain clogs during sanitation when in regards to food safety.  I performed environmental swabs after it was cleaned up to see if we have an issue with contamination on the floors.  I am wondering more so for sanitation and how they should respond?  Should they clean their gear?  Do they use a plumber? My only thought with the plumber is that he could bring in his own contaminated equipment to unclog the drain.  Should we order a drain snake and only use it one time or soak in cleaner after wards?  Has anyone ever had this happen and what did they do to prevent the spread of possible contamination in production.  Just want to see if anyone has any stories of this and what they did or what they learned from it?

 

Thank you for your help!

Nicole



Lennie81

    Grade - Active

  • IFSQN Active
  • 1 posts
  • 2 thanks
0
Neutral

  • Canada
    Canada

Posted 08 February 2018 - 03:32 PM

Hi, We have a drain backup procedure which includes the following:

 

In the event of a drain back up 

  • Room/Area is quarantined immediately and stop any employee traffic which may spread the potential biological hazards
  • While trying unclog the drain we have designated foot baths with high concentration peracetic acid employees must use to enter or exit the area.
  • All sanitation tools/equipment must stay in the affected area.
  • We have our own drain snake stored in a designated vessel.  This activity is completed by a trained designated employee (sanitation lead hand or supervisor) to perform the task of clearing the drain. 
  • Once the drain has been cleared, the drain snake is placed back into the stainless steel buggy and cleaned in the room followed by a shock of sanitizer (typically peracetic acid).  The container/vessel used to transport the snake is also cleaned and shocked to prevent the potential for spreading of biological hazards.  
  • Once completed the area must be re-cleaned and shocked in the affected area.
  • All areas are scrubbed focusing on any potential harborage points e.g. equipment framwork including the legs/feet which make contact to your floors.  if you have any floor cracks be sure to scrub and shock.  all tools used to clean the potential contamination must be cleaned and shocked (we have drain brushes and floor brushes stored in chemical at all times)
  • for drains, we reclean and shock in concentrated sanitizer prior to putting back into place.
  • post clean we use a powder treatment which is activated by water which is left on the floors throughout the shift for foot traffic http://www.ecolab.co...fectant-cleaner (this is a great product for low hygiene tranistions and entrances for foot traffic as well)
  • once completed we perform enviro swabs throughout 

After the issue has been resolved you need to do some root cause analysis on the issue.  What I have seen in some cases is its easier to wash everything down the drain then trap and discard.  If there are no drain baskets in place to catch organic material you may have other issues with your city or municipality regarding organic waste levels.

 

I hope this helps, it seems like quite a process but if you have anything in your drains the last thing you need, is to be chasing the contamination throughout the facility.



Thanked by 2 Members:

Charles.C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Moderator
  • 20,542 posts
  • 5662 thanks
1,544
Excellent

  • Earth
    Earth
  • Gender:Male
  • Interests:SF
    TV
    Movies

Posted 09 February 2018 - 04:36 AM

Hello,

 

We recently had a drain backed up during sanitation while wet washing equipment.  We wet wash every night in our process.  I am looking for some guidance on what to do when a drain clogs during sanitation when in regards to food safety.  I performed environmental swabs after it was cleaned up to see if we have an issue with contamination on the floors.  I am wondering more so for sanitation and how they should respond?  Should they clean their gear?  Do they use a plumber? My only thought with the plumber is that he could bring in his own contaminated equipment to unclog the drain.  Should we order a drain snake and only use it one time or soak in cleaner after wards?  Has anyone ever had this happen and what did they do to prevent the spread of possible contamination in production.  Just want to see if anyone has any stories of this and what they did or what they learned from it?

 

Thank you for your help!

Nicole

 

If this was not a one-off due a specific reason, the usual problem is drain design. IMEX it's an art as well as a science.

If so the only reliable solution will unfortunately be the obvious one.

 

If access/modification is simply impossible, no choice but options like  previous post  + GMP. But may only be a stop-gap.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C




Share this

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users