Problem with Hair in Product, Hairnet Procedure ?
Good day Team,
I have recently had a few complaints with regards to hair found in our product. I'm at the point of pulling my own hair out of my head as I honestly don't know what to do anymore. We do wear hair nets and beard masks.. my team also wear long sleeve coats and arm sleeves. However we re-use hairnets in the sense off, whenever someone leaves the production area they keep their hair net safe and re-use the hairnet when they return. I have had numerous fights with management with regards to this but unfortunately my hands are tied. So my other question is... Should I than rather let them not take off the hairnet at all during the day even during lunch and tea breaks, or what should I do?
Please held.
TIA
Good day Team,
I have recently had a few complaints with regards to hair found in our product. I'm at the point of pulling my own hair out of my head as I honestly don't know what to do anymore. We do wear hair nets and beard masks.. my team also wear long sleeve coats and arm sleeves. However we re-use hairnets in the sense off, whenever someone leaves the production area they keep their hair net safe and re-use the hairnet when they return. I have had numerous fights with management with regards to this but unfortunately my hands are tied. So my other question is... Should I than rather let them not take off the hairnet at all during the day even during lunch and tea breaks, or what should I do?
Please held.
TIA
Hi Nutri,
What kind of Product/Process is involved ?
How sure are you that hair is from workers ? eg have you checked raw material/Finished product ?
Hi
In our factory we have the procedure "How to dress us up"
It remains that the hair net should first be dressed before other protective / work clothing.
Our auditor want that we should have instructions with photos.
Hi Nutri,
I wouldn't suggest keeping hairnerts on all day otherwise you'll have staff wearing PPE in toilets. I agree with you on fresh hairnets when re-entering not only for potential hair contamination but god knows what can contaminate the nets in people's pockets or outside, and then transfer to an operative's hand in production when they touch their hairnet.
Charles makes a good point regarding origin; does the evidence suggest the hair is coming from your staff - is it safe to rule out raw material or customer contamination? I'd first check whether there's a trend with product/RM/customer. Also do you find that your staff are complying with the procedure?
If it does look to the re-using of hairnets as the culprit, it may be worth putting it to management this way: cost of new hairnets vs cost of customer complaint financial + company reputation.
You say they where long sleeves and arm sleeves. Do you provide the outer wear for them. Also where do they put the arm sleeves during break. Is it cold in the environment where employees are working. The reason I ask - in my facility, the rooms are kept around 38 F or lower. Employees are allowed to wear hoods over their hairnets. I do worry for a potential contamination of hair from the hoods but we haven't had complaints.
Echoing other posters here, you should really start reviewing your raw materials. If your customers are noting and complaining, is it just on select products from one product line, or is it sort of a widespread situation? You might be able to narrow down potential root causes by seeing what the finished products have in common where complaints were raised.
Have you considered intentional adulteration by a disgruntled employee?
Also, hairnets are really not that expensive for management to complain about employees having to change them periodically throughout the day. Agreeing with Zanorias's comment - is complaining about the cost of hairnets really worth several customer complaints on hair in their product?
"However we re-use hairnets in the sense off, whenever someone leaves the production area they keep their hair net safe and re-use the hairnet when they return. I have had numerous fights with management with regards to this but unfortunately my hands are tied. So my other question is... Should I than rather let them not take off the hairnet at all during the day even during lunch and tea breaks, or what should I do?"
Copy this into a letter:
Dear Valued Customer,
Sorry for the hair inclusion, however please be aware of our re-use policy.
Our Senior Management (Joe Johnson, Tim Peterson, whatever their names are go here) dictates that hair-nets be re-used all shift long, thus even when workers take them off when leaving production they are required to put the same one back on again when they return, even if inside out and hair that was clinging to the "inside" of the hair net is now free to fall into our food products.
As the Quality Assurance Manager (replace with your title, that was an example) I have had numerous fights with management with regards to this but unfortunately my hands are tied and this practice will continue until Senior Managers (put their names here) change the policy.
Thus, once again sorry for the hair in your food.
---- be sure to send a copy of this to your senior managers - they will of course begin the screaming and threatening to fire you - however this exact thing was used by one of our clients to drive it home and get changes made to insane policies.
Copy this into a letter:
Dear Valued Customer,
Sorry for the hair inclusion, however please be aware of our re-use policy.
Our Senior Management (Joe Johnson, Tim Peterson, whatever their names are go here) dictates that hair-nets be re-used all shift long, thus even when workers take them off when leaving production they are required to put the same one back on again when they return, even if inside out and hair that was clinging to the "inside" of the hair net is now free to fall into our food products.
As the Quality Assurance Manager (replace with your title, that was an example) I have had numerous fights with management with regards to this but unfortunately my hands are tied and this practice will continue until Senior Managers (put their names here) change the policy.
Thus, once again sorry for the hair in your food.
---- be sure to send a copy of this to your senior managers - they will of course begin the screaming and threatening to fire you - however this exact thing was used by one of our clients to drive it home and get changes made to insane policies.
Glenn, I just started cackling at my desk :rofl2:
I will definitely be using this letter with Senior Management!
Glenn, I just started cackling at my desk :rofl2:
I will definitely be using this letter with Senior Management!
And shortly may well be the ex-QA Manager. :smile:
Such is Life in the Fast Lane.
"However we re-use hairnets in the sense off, whenever someone leaves the production area they keep their hair net safe and re-use the hairnet when they return. I have had numerous fights with management with regards to this but unfortunately my hands are tied. So my other question is... Should I than rather let them not take off the hairnet at all during the day even during lunch and tea breaks, or what should I do?"
Copy this into a letter:
Dear Valued Customer,
Sorry for the hair inclusion, however please be aware of our re-use policy.
Our Senior Management (Joe Johnson, Tim Peterson, whatever their names are go here) dictates that hair-nets be re-used all shift long, thus even when workers take them off when leaving production they are required to put the same one back on again when they return, even if inside out and hair that was clinging to the "inside" of the hair net is now free to fall into our food products.
As the Quality Assurance Manager (replace with your title, that was an example) I have had numerous fights with management with regards to this but unfortunately my hands are tied and this practice will continue until Senior Managers (put their names here) change the policy.
Thus, once again sorry for the hair in your food.
---- be sure to send a copy of this to your senior managers - they will of course begin the screaming and threatening to fire you - however this exact thing was used by one of our clients to drive it home and get changes made to insane policies.
This. Is. The. Greatest. Idea.
one suggestion if it is an issue and management is really that concerned- use lint rollers after putting on your hair net and cover clothing. the lint rollers can remove some of the hair that maybe clinging.
you could even collect the hair covered lint rollers (specifically from hair nets) and present them as evidence of the need to change them out.
also $ speak. if you can calculate the cost of these complaints verses the cost of hairnets for a year.