8 replies to this topic

[clend]

Hi Everyone - 

 

What are your thoughts on maintenance team members carrying around all of their many keys on key chains, lanyards, and carabiners that are just attached to their belt loops, keys just hanging there, flopping all over the place?

 

Thanks!

[miseenplace]

sounds like it could pose a safety risk. What happens if it were to get hung up on  a piece of machinery? also I would imagine the cleanliness of it would come into question.

[Brendan Triplett]

clendved,

 

What is the environment that you are working in?  If you are in clean rooms for inspection and production then I think you know the answer.  If you are in a maintenance or general storage warehouse then I believe you can be more lax with this.  Give us some more info to go on.

 

Cheers!

[clend]

I agree about their being a safety concern, but that is another topic. I am just thinking from a food safety and quality point of view, have people seen keys exposed like this in their facilities before?

 

How do you address the potential for NFFM and micro contamination?

[clend]

clendved,

 

What is the environment that you are working in?  If you are in clean rooms for inspection and production then I think you know the answer.  If you are in a maintenance or general storage warehouse then I believe you can be more lax with this.  Give us some more info to go on.

 

Cheers!

 

This is a dry food processing environment, with no kill step. Maintenance guys come and go from these productions areas to their shops, etc. 

[clend]

I also think people do this with their LOTO keys.

 

Is just requiring people to use their pockets good enough?

[Brendan Triplett]

SQF has requirements for this:

 

Jewelry and hard objects in pockets (12.3.4)

Do not wear jewelry on the hands, wrist, neck, or ears that cannot be cleaned and sanitized and then secured to your person.  Do not carry objects in your outside pockets.  Plain wedding bands are acceptable but not recommended (12.3.4.1).

 

Basically nothing can be dangling or exposed that might present a risk to the product.  It is as simple as making it part of your SOP.  No keys or other materials exposed on your person in the production areas or storage areas that could present a risk for contamination of the product.

 

Cheers!

[Brendan Triplett]

This might not be the perfect individual bullet but look SQF Health, Hygiene and Welfare for guidance.

[Scampi]

If the maintenance folks are carrying their own tool bags, then they could be supplied with carabiners to attach keys to tool bag; but I personally don't have an issue with it as they shouldn't be touching any raw materials anyway.  I would not apply that rule to maintenance staff as they would never be able to come into production to fix anything is you used that standard as quoted as tools etc could be construed as "loose" even though they are necessary

 

The general food safety rules do AND don't apply to the maintenance staff

 

Let's say that the compressor room is just off the production room and that door is always locked.........need a key and maintenance needs to get it there quickly to get the compressor working again....they need it handy

 

The maintenance SOP should state that they do not handle ingredients/finished goods AT ALL and that any piece of equipment they work on needs cleaned and sanitized prior to being used again