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Requirements for hand washing stations

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technicalDS

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Posted 20 February 2021 - 04:58 PM

Hello, we are setting up small factory producing baked snacks in UK. My question - what is the minimum requirement of the hand washing stations? Where should they be located, can we have only hand washing station in the toilet? Regards, B.



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Posted 20 February 2021 - 07:22 PM

Normally hws's are located at entrance to production and then placed in conveinent locations.


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Aliali

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Posted 21 February 2021 - 03:19 AM

Depending on the footprint of the your processing room, I would say at least one at the entrance and one in the wet processing room. There also should one in the airlock/transfer room. 



technicalDS

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Posted 21 February 2021 - 07:47 AM

Hi,

 

Thank you for the answers.

 

Our production area is very small as it is almost one room and then one small room as the office.

 

Do you think that from the hygiene point of view we could use sink in toilet for hand washing ? Let's say it is just before entering the production area ?



ft.tgif

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Posted 21 February 2021 - 07:59 AM

Hi,

 

Thank you for the answers.

 

Our production area is very small as it is almost one room and then one small room as the office.

 

Do you think that from the hygiene point of view we could use sink in toilet for hand washing ? Let's say it is just before entering the production area ?

From hygiene standpoint, the best would be to have a handwash station after you open the production door, that's the first thing you'd have to do once you enter the production area before you proceed to anything else. Or at least a handwash station right before you open the production door.

 

If you are using the sink in the toilet, after you've wash your hands, you'd still have to touch the toilet's door to get out of the toilet, and then you'd have to touch the production door to enter the production room, not very hygienic if you do it this way. And if your toilet does not have a door, then well, it should have a door if it is near the production.

 

If you really can't put a handwash station after the production door, the next best thing to do is to put hand sanitizers (preferably sensor operated, or anything that does not require you to use your hands, i don't know if they have foot operated dispensers?) so that you'll be washing your hands before you open the production door, and then once you've enter the production room, you sanitize your hands before doing anything else. 



Scampi

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Posted 22 February 2021 - 01:58 PM

You can purchase portable non permanent handwashing stations

 

https://www.googlead...egQIChBu&adurl=

 

The only handwashing station in the washroom is not sufficient  


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rmssan

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Posted 07 March 2021 - 08:33 AM

No, there must be atleast one handwashing station in the actual production facility.

A handwashing station in the washroom is required, but must be separate from the production handwash station.

 

This will ensure that the staff have ready access to hadnwashing stations whenever their hands get soiled during production and reduces the risk of contaminating from frequent trips to the washroom just to wash their hands.



RDM_Rep

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Posted 10 March 2021 - 09:08 PM

Hello,

 

I have some questions to add to this topic. We are a food packaging manufacturer and I am trying to understand the handwashing requirements for our facility.

 

Firstly, similar to another poster, our handwashing area is in our bathroom, which is located just outside the door leading into the production area. Can anyone confirm if this will be insufficient? It sounds like due to contact with the door handle, we should have a station just outside the door? The following clause seems to deem bathroom sinks as sufficient: 

 

13.3.5.6 Handwash stations shall be provided immediately outside or inside the toilet room and designed as outlined in 13.3.2.3

 

Secondly, if the bathroom is sufficient, the sinks are ceramic, and WILL need to be converted to stainless steel, correct? 

 

Lastly, as mentioned, our bathroom doors lead into the production area. Given that we are packaging only, do we still need to have some sort of airlock system in place? Construction is obviously not ideal, if the system is necessary, what are some solutions people have used to accommodate this requirement? 



Scampi

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Posted 10 March 2021 - 09:40 PM

RDM  make sure you apply all sections of the code as required. You're quoting from the staff amenities section which is washrooms and lunchrooms.  The section below is what you need for the production floor

 

13.3.2 Hand Washing

 

13.3.2.1 Hand wash basins shall be provided in appropriate areas. 13.3.2.2 Hand wash basins shall be constructed of stainless steel or similar non-corrosive material and as a minimum supplied with: i. A potable water supply at an appropriate temperature; ii. Liquid soap contained within a fixed dispenser; iii. Paper towels or effective hand dryer; and iv. A means of containing used paper towels. 13.3.2.3 A sign instructing people to wash their hands, and in appropriate languages, shall be provided in a prominent position.

 

13.3.2.4 Personnel shall have clean hands and hands shall be washed by all personnel, including staff, contractors and visitors: i. On entering production areas; ii. After each visit to a toilet; iii. After using a handkerchief; iv. After smoking, eating or drinking; and v. After handling waste or chemicals. 13.3.2.5 When gloves are used, personnel shall maintain the hand washing practices outlined above.


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RDM_Rep

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Posted 11 March 2021 - 12:22 AM

RDM  make sure you apply all sections of the code as required. You're quoting from the staff amenities section which is washrooms and lunchrooms.  The section below is what you need for the production floor

 

13.3.2 Hand Washing

 

13.3.2.1 Hand wash basins shall be provided in appropriate areas. 13.3.2.2 Hand wash basins shall be constructed of stainless steel or similar non-corrosive material and as a minimum supplied with: i. A potable water supply at an appropriate temperature; ii. Liquid soap contained within a fixed dispenser; iii. Paper towels or effective hand dryer; and iv. A means of containing used paper towels. 13.3.2.3 A sign instructing people to wash their hands, and in appropriate languages, shall be provided in a prominent position.

 

13.3.2.4 Personnel shall have clean hands and hands shall be washed by all personnel, including staff, contractors and visitors: i. On entering production areas; ii. After each visit to a toilet; iii. After using a handkerchief; iv. After smoking, eating or drinking; and v. After handling waste or chemicals. 13.3.2.5 When gloves are used, personnel shall maintain the hand washing practices outlined above.

 

Thank you for the response, I see my error now. 

 

Can anyone comment on the airlock question, in terms of necessity and possible solutions to avoid extensive construction?



Scampi

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Posted 11 March 2021 - 01:09 PM

Generally speaking, as long as your bathrooms are directly vented outside and there is air movement that can be detected, and the fans run always, that should be sufficient to create an "airlock"   

 

In simpler terms, the amount of air being pulled out the vent is enough to prevent air from flowing from the bathrooms back into production. There are online calculators that you enter the room size and air turnover time and give you options


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RDM_Rep

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Posted 11 March 2021 - 06:35 PM

Generally speaking, as long as your bathrooms are directly vented outside and there is air movement that can be detected, and the fans run always, that should be sufficient to create an "airlock"   

 

In simpler terms, the amount of air being pulled out the vent is enough to prevent air from flowing from the bathrooms back into production. There are online calculators that you enter the room size and air turnover time and give you options

 

Thank you for that, this gives me a better idea as to what to do. 

 

Apologies for being a broken record, but I was asked to clarify the hand washing station requirement by my employer. To clarify, we do not work with any food on site, our work is entirely in plastic. We supply food packaging and materials only, which I believe make us low risk. Can anyone confirm if having the bathroom as our handwashing station would be sufficient in this case? 



Scampi

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Posted 11 March 2021 - 06:52 PM

See my above post to the section I made red    that is DIRECTLY out of the SQF packaging module

 

Upon entering production

 

And ewe gross  with every flush the bacteria are spread throughout the bathroom so the door handle is now contaminated

 

So you want to wrap my food in plastic but you cannot actually see if employees washed their hands?????


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RDM_Rep

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Posted 11 March 2021 - 06:59 PM

See my above post to the section I made red    that is DIRECTLY out of the SQF packaging module

 

Upon entering production

 

And ewe gross  with every flush the bacteria are spread throughout the bathroom so the door handle is now contaminated

 

So you want to wrap my food in plastic but you cannot actually see if employees washed their hands?????

 

We don't do any actual packaging of food :) Apologies, sir, if the questioning is frustrating for you but I am merely trying to get an idea of what would be acceptable for our specific line of work and current configuration given that contact with the actual product is incredibly low, and that the clause in question is part of the applicable elements, which as I understand, "Not all elements are applicable. There may be some sections or clauses that do not apply to your site." 

 

Have a great day.


Edited by RDM_Rep, 11 March 2021 - 07:10 PM.


Scampi

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Posted 11 March 2021 - 08:03 PM

The clauses that are not applicable are in module 2 and they are listed mandatory non mandatory and you need to apply to your CB for an exception

 

Everything in the food packaging module applies

 

Probably the best thing you and your employer can do is sit down together and read the code plus the related Guidance documents you can find on SQF in the resource section

 

And please stop calling me sir


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RDM_Rep

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Posted 12 March 2021 - 06:27 PM

Can anyone confirm if ceramic sinks would be acceptable for employee bathrooms? 

 

"13.3.2.3 - Handwashing stations shall have: i. Basins constructed of stainless steel or similar non-corrosive material"

 

Per my understanding, ceramic should meet the "non corrosive material" requirement but I wanted to see if anyone out there has experience with this to confirm or deny. 





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