How often do you conduct environmental swabs and how many samples do you take?
Hello,
I'm looking at updating our policy and would like to know what everyone is currently doing regarding environmental swabbing.
How often do you swab in your facility?
What is the size of you facility and how many samples do you take?
Thank you!
Size - small (approx. 30 employees), frequency - 1/month, 10 samples - equipment & areas (Listeria m.), 2 - workers' hands (E. Coli). Every month - different sites
You need to do your own assessment. You need to zone out your areas of High, Medium and Low risk. From there you need to determine what percentage of samples would be needed in each area to keep you informed of possible contamination. You have to justify your decision in a risk assessment / hazard analysis unique to your facility.
Remember in your swabbing, you are looking for problems. Dont be afraid to get a positive result during your swabs. Too many times I see facilities shying away from "dirty" areas. Its best you find a hot spot before the customer does through a recall.
This will depend entirely on your product and operation.
Remember in your swabbing, you are looking for problems. Dont be afraid to get a positive result during your swabs. Too many times I see facilities shying away from "dirty" areas. Its best you find a hot spot before the customer does through a recall.
I second this. In a recent chat with a BSA auditor who contributes to their Listeria guidance, she mentioned focusing on trying to actively find listeria rather than trying to 'prove' it isn't there. The liklihood is that listeria, for example, will be somewhere - identifying when/where and taking appropriate actions to protect the food and end consumer is the best course of action, in my opinion.
Hello,
I'm looking at updating our policy and would like to know what everyone is currently doing regarding environmental swabbing.
How often do you swab in your facility?
What is the size of you facility and how many samples do you take?
Thank you!
As per previous post it relates to yr product/process/risk assessment/standard/regulatory(if any)
Some ideas here -