Hello to all. Looking for tips on cleaning of overhead piping in RTE
Hello everyone:
I am the QA manager of a RTE frozen and refrigerated dessert manufacturer. We have built up a facility which is now approx. 13,000 sq. ft. I want to have the overhead piping cleaned, it is quite a big job and perhaps too big for us to try and do ourselves. Also, considerations for covering everything will need to be looked at.
Does anyone have any information in this area they could help me with?
Thanks!
The dirtiness won't disappear by covering it. You will just not see it anymore. Sometimes covering can result in an inaccessible space, which on the mid and long terms will work against you.
The cleaning could be done in phases, by priorization of the critical areas. Adaptations of the installation for easier access could be developed.
Don't forget about the safety rules for working on height.
Kind regards,
Gerard Heerkens
What frequency are you planning on doing this job?
In theory, you could just so a spray down on the equipment, but not a full clean, clean the overheads, then clean the production areas.
Have you contracted out the sanitation? or is this inhouse?
In a bakery that I worked at they had a lot of piping that they broke up cleaning each section every few months. They also owned the cherry picker lift (not sure on the actual name)
The cleaning also happened during down days (when there was no production) to prevent any contamination.
They would go up, and have extension poles with rags and wipe everything down.
I think for your company it would depend on how dirty it can get up there for frequency, because it was a bread bakery, flour got every where so it had to be done often.
Hello everyone:
I am the QA manager of a RTE frozen and refrigerated dessert manufacturer. We have built up a facility which is now approx. 13,000 sq. ft. I want to have the overhead piping cleaned, it is quite a big job and perhaps too big for us to try and do ourselves. Also, considerations for covering everything will need to be looked at.
Does anyone have any information in this area they could help me with?
Thanks!
Hi Pat,
Yr query has come up here several times in the past for other industries generating various proposals (and iirc a few links).
Maybe try a search for words like << overhead >>
Dear Pat,
The dirtiness won't disappear by covering it. You will just not see it anymore. Sometimes covering can result in an inaccessible space, which on the mid and long terms will work against you.
The cleaning could be done in phases, by priorization of the critical areas. Adaptations of the installation for easier access could be developed.
Don't forget about the safety rules for working on height.
Kind regards,
Gerard Heerkens
Thank you Gerard. What I mean by covering is to cover all equipment below the piping. I appreciate your help!
Do you have downtime you can do the extra cleaning? If so, you'll just have to dedicate the personnel to do this (whomever) during the downtime. As someone else suggested clean the overhead pipes before you clean the areas.
Not sure how high the pipes are, but there are extension poles and brushes, dusters which are flexible that can be wrapped around a pipe. We use these all the time in our facility for the overhead piping, but also work well for webbing (spider webs). It is a regular thing on our MS program. Nelson Jameson and Grainger have a number of different options for these cleaning implements.