Outsourcing sanitation to cleaning company?
We are having a very difficult time finding sanitation staff and I've been interviewing and gathering quotes from cleaning companies to handle the nightly cleaning of our harvest/packaging room. The company I want to use has provided me a contract that states they will designate 4 of their best employees to our facility. This would mean 2 employees per night (which is all we need) so that there is backup in case of a call off. I can train these employees in anything and everything I need to make them compliant, and their supervisor as well. They background check and drug test their employees. Before I move forward, I want to get a better idea of whether this is compliant with our SQF certification? I would train them in all of our SSOP's, health and hygiene practices, HACCP, Allergen Management, SQF, GAP, GMP's. Has anyone ever done this before? I should also note that we would still have one company employee on site at all times to clean a different part of production, so the contracted cleaning company wouldn't be here alone. Oh and we are growing, harvesting and packaging leafy greens only in this facility.
I'm open to any and all advice! We are growing, harvesting and packaging leafy greens only in this facility.
I have had great success with 3rd party sanitation companies. You're compliant to SQF as long as the documentation continues to get completed as required.
Make sure that you're training documentation is adequate and up to date, including titration training
In the event of a swab athon, make sure that your contract includes the overtime that may entail
Oh, and make sure they are still on site during pre op so any action items can be resolved
I've seen great success with 3rd party sanitation companies as well. They tend to do better as they want to attain the business. Agree with everything Scampi said, one thing to note is make sure they are on your contract service provider list. It would be easy to forget that and easy for an auditor to find that.
You can have great success with some of the nationally known companies...just be aware of the pitfalls listed above
You've got a solid plan! All you have left to do would be keep proper documentation. Do list them on your "Contract Service Providers" list as approved, not sure if that's required for your FSC.