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Knife Control Policy

Started by , Dec 01 2020 07:53 PM
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Hello, would someone be able to send me a copy of their knife control policy? We have had one in place for almost a year now and we keep coming back every couple of months and someone in some department has a complaint or suggestion so I'd like to see some other ones for reference. Thank you!

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Implementing Knife Control Policies: Challenges and Solutions Problems Implementing and Maintaining a Knife Control Policy Trying to find a food safe knife for opening bags Knife Control Policy Section 11.7.5.7 - Knife Control of Box Cutters
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Hi pkuse

Knife policies depend on your type of operation and storage capacities, inspections, etc.  What type of complaints and/or suggestions are you getting from your employees?  Are knives coming up missing?  

Hello, would someone be able to send me a copy of their knife control policy? We have had one in place for almost a year now and we keep coming back every couple of months and someone in some department has a complaint or suggestion so I'd like to see some other ones for reference. Thank you!

 

Hi pkruse,

 

It's a popular headache, eg -

 

https://www.ifsqn.co...te/#entry108104

https://www.ifsqn.co...nt/#entry127122

https://www.ifsqn.co...rol/#entry44875

So, I'm glad I'm not alone. I've been fighting production over the blade program for 2 years. I've made every change they've wanted and they still aren't happy or the records aren't up to snuff. We have several. Each shift has approx 40 knives to track. 

 

But here's the question... WHY does something seemingly so simple become such a headache? To me and to most of you it looks pretty straightforward. So why so much trouble with this ONE program?

 

veruca

This is the one that I created after an audit at a sister plant.
 
1.0 Purpose
To ensure that all knives and cutting utensils are tracked and maintained so as not to pose a threat to the safety of our food and our consumers. 
 
 
2.0 Responsibility
It is the responsibility of the Plant Manager to ensure a procedure exist to control access to knives and cutting utensils.
It is the responsibility of the Department Supervisor to ensure all utensils handed out are cleaned/sanitized and safe for use on the floor. The Operators will clean/sanitized utensils prior to turning them back in. 
It is the responsibility of the Department Supervisors to ensure employees are following this procedure and not using personal knives on the floor.
3.0 Forms and Documented Information
3.1 Knives/Cutting Utensil Log Sheet
 
4.0 Procedure
Employees will need to sign out knives or other cutting utensils from the Department Supervisor on a daily basis. The Operators will ensure that all cutting utensils that are turned back in have been cleaned/sanitized. If at any point during the day an employee’s Cutting utensil has become compromised due to possible contamination, they should be clean/sanitize. All utensils issued to the floor will be logged on the Knives/Cutting Utensil Log Sheet. All Utensils will need to be turned back into Department Supervisor at the end of each shift. Sanitation will swab the knives at a minimum weekly during clean break on all three shifts. 
5.0 Risk and Opportunities
5.1 Employees are not to use personal Knives in the facility.
5.2 No snap-off blades shall be used with in the facility.
 
 
Knives/Cutting Utensil Log Sheet Pro 46-1 Employee  Date Issued Untensil Cleaned Op Intitals Date Returned                                                

I completely agree! It seems like such a simple concept but it turns into such a headache. I've already changed the policy 4 times t oaccomodate different things.

 

So we are a wholesale bakery that manufacturers pizza crust and breads and buns. We used these generic utility knives but the first issue we ran into is that our departments have different allergens so we went with color coding so as to not mix the knives between departments. However, the colors starting to chip off the knives right away and so we switched over to the same type of knife for out entire facility and each one is labeled for which department it is for. Some of the issues that are coming now are that people don't want to put them back in the lock boxes, or they end up taking them home, they also leave the lock boxes open all day rather than grabbing what they need and closing/locking the door. Our person in charge of knife blade inventory can't seem to keep the numbers straight and I'm chasing him around every month trying to figure out what is what and every month he says its the paperwork so we change the paperwork yet here we are again with the same issue. 

 

I make all of the changes they want, they want simpler paperwork, they don't want ot have to sign outa knife every time, so we adjusted that, but again, we are still getting a lot of resistence. 

                    "I've already changed the policy 4 times t oaccomodate different things."

 

So, let's address that statement.

I'm not going to get on a soap box and say THOU SHALT NOT or REPENT THE END IS NIGH.

But I will tell you from experience that it almost never works out in the end. I have a pretty strict self policy against it, and it takes someone quite a bit higher on the food chain to make me go against that. The few times I've acquiesced and bowed to the pressure (of the person who's name is on my checks) it hasn't worked out.

 

It also cheapens your food safety policy as a whole and puts it into the minds of the managers (and employees if they get word) that if the rules don't work, we can change them. And then you run the change an employee when being interviewed during a GFSI audit will say "well we used to do it this way, but no one could follow that so we now do it this way" which will send a good auditor down that rabbit hole.

2 Thanks

I completely agree! Its such a losing battle.. Unfortunately my boss that I directly report to will tell me I need to change it so that the others will follow it. Not having the support there tends to be a big cause of problems as well. 

 

I'm honestly terrified for our upcoming audit and what employees will say when questioned by the auditor

I completely agree! Its such a losing battle.. Unfortunately my boss that I directly report to will tell me I need to change it so that the others will follow it. Not having the support there tends to be a big cause of problems as well. 

 

I'm honestly terrified for our upcoming audit and what employees will say when questioned by the auditor

 

It would seem you have a "Human" Policy problem rather than a Knife one.

When you lose a knife or a blade do you have the person(s) responsible sit down and help out with the RCA or corrective actions? Sometimes making them sit through the paperwork side of things makes it a bit more of a reality that oh there are consequences to what we just did.  

 

Do you have any metal hits or customer complaints due to a blade or a knife missing?  That could help during the audit as far as yes you have gaps but at least something is working

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