Are wooden pallets allowed in product zone (poultry slaughtering)?
Hi,
Our company is a poultry slaughtering company.
The CEO is planning on some adjusting of the building and workflow.
He asked me if it is possible to bring in wooden pallets inside the open productzone. Take off the empty containers and drive away the wooden pallets outside.
The course of the wooden pallets will be drawed with lines on the floor and they will stay low so there is no wood on product level.
Is this possible for the BRC if we do entry checks of the wooden pallets?
Thanks.
Sounds fine to me. Add a pallet check column to your receiving form, and either add a wood pallet check section to your receiving policy, or just write a wood pallet policy (I've done both before). stating that they must be in good condition, free of damage or splinters, and kept below product level.
I have a meat processing plant that has stationery rubber/plastic pallets - they bring in wood pallets that are postitioned on top of these so they don't contact the floor and wick any liquids into the wood. Works great!
Have always used wooden pallets, have always included them in receiving and use inspections (just like any other materials)
Never had an issue
Okay Thanks!
I have a similar set up as you described for de-boxing meat raw materials from goods-in into tanks, passed through years of BRC audits no issues.
Just make sure you have a written procedure for checks and minimising contamination as suggested above.
BRC interpretation for clause 4.9.5.1 states: (where wood cannot be avoided), a procedure must be in place to:
- ensure the use of wood is covered by the HACCP risk assessment
- identify damaged items
- minimise the potential for contamination
- ensure that the wood is continually monitored (e.g. by regular checks to ensure it is in good condition and clean).
Same experience as Zanorias - 11 years of BRC at this site and with appropriate controls in place we've had no problem with wooden pallets.
Appreciate the response. Thanks.