I apologize if this is too long...
Our company has been back and forth on this subject of dedicated footwear since time began.
A bit of background. We are an RTE facility with completely separate RTE and NRTE areas and have approx.100 employees.
Employees are not allowed to move back and forth without changing PPE. Color coding for RTE and NRTE is in effect for PPE.
When we started on this dedicated footwear journey, it was with wellingtons and a bucket of sanitizer with brushes. Employees were allowed to wear the company purchased boots anywhere in the facility as long as they sanitized them upon re-entrance to RTE areas. They were not allowed to wear outside. There was, and still is room for this change-out of shoes and PPE in accordance to BRC.
Then along came a customer who insisted on the using smart step sanitizing system. The footwear sanitizer was easy to use and we continued for a few years with it. It only sprayed sanitizer (Alpet D2) and did not scrub footwear. Employees wore dedicated shoes and as with the wellingtons, the shoes could be worn anywhere inside, just not outside. They would sanitize shoes upon entrance to RTE area.
All of this was fine until our most recent audit, unannounced, where the auditor said, we can either go with dedicated footwear and a footwear sanitizer with scrubbing or use disposable footwear; think the blue cottony disposable kind. So we decided to try these disposable booties. This did not work out because in the high heat oven areas, they tended to melt to the guys shoes. So back to square one because they melted and also after reading a recent article published by Techni-K stating "shoe covers aren't acceptable". Our certification body gave us the go ahead on the disposable booties by the way.
I have read and reread the BRCGS 8.4.1 clause, it's interpretation and have spent a lot time researching this subject and the following is what I have come up with: Someone please tell me if this is not correct because I am still confused by what interpretations, auditors and consultants say. Everyone is different!
1. You MUST have dedicated footwear purchased by the company.
2. Dedicated footwear must be donned in the changout area prior to entering the RTE area.
3. Dedicated footwear must be removed EVERY time you leave the RTE area, with warehouse, sanitation and maintenance employees following the same rules.
4. Visitors and contractors can use disposable booties while following the same on/off procedures as employees.
5. There is no need for sanitizer as long as the dedicated footwear is cleaned nightly.
6. A risk assessment will determine if this system is working or not.
7. NRTE area employees do not need dedicated footwear as long as they stay in NRTE areas.
There's no doubt I'm missing something somewhere.
Thank you invance for any input.