Packaging Manufacturer - SQF Ed 8.1 - 13.4.1.1iii
Yesterday in one of my SQF meetings with upper management, we discussed some of the changes that came in edition 8.1, specifically 13.4.1.1.iii stating:
"8.1- Raw materials, packaging and finished product shall be maintained appropriately and off the floor."
If we are storing items on pallets on the floor, would that be considered a non-conformity? Would pallets need to be on racks?
I guess I may be misinterpreting the "floor" aspect.
Any insight would be great.
Thank you.
The pallets are on the floor... not your items that are required to be off the floor and that is why you are using a pallet. You are fine.
Going a bit further, we store our packaging on the floor by the machines that are being run. Upper management thought of the idea of placing a food grade or restaurant mat on the floor. My thought was that they would still be considered on the floor because they are on the mat, which doesnt provide much of a space gap between floor and product.
We went back and forth between the interpretation of "floor", and it ended up me being assigned to find a reasonable adjustment to the new wording of the code. Auditors in the past have made comments about product being stored on the floor, but never a minor. However, this year we think it'll be different, so finding a way to make an adjustment to our current processes is needed.
I can't imagine what I'm going to go through for edition 9 changes.
We use "tie sheets", rejected sheets from our printing department, as a barrier. We do not set: finished goods already in packages, corrugated cases, glues, tape etc directly on the floor. Nearly any barrier you can verify as appropriate should work.
We use "tie sheets", rejected sheets from our printing department, as a barrier. We do not set: finished goods already in packages, corrugated cases, glues, tape etc directly on the floor. Nearly any barrier you can verify as appropriate should work.
That makes sense. I guess my confusion lies in my past career as a chef. In the kitchen, items had to be at least 6 inches off the ground and wall, and 18 inches from the ceiling. So if a food grade mat can provide the necessary "safety" from storing products on the floor, then my life just got much easier. I'm still trying to make a transition from the mentality I had in kitchen management vs manufacturing setting.
The reason we use the tie sheets is we generate them regularly and it avoids us having to buy something for that purpose. We change them at the end of every job so they aren't used long enough to walk on them. I would think you would have to have a cleaning schedule for the mats if they were long term use.