Lunch Room Hygiene

We produce RTE imitation crab.  Our facility is one building.  Upstairs contains the office and employee lunchroom.  Downstairs is the employee locker room, lab, production floor and maintenance shop.

We don't allow food in the locker room.  Employees enter a "boot wash" room where they wash hand and walk through a boot wash prior to entering the production floor. 

In the employee lunchroom, we have a couple microwaves, refrigerator, a couple vending machines, bottled water, coffee pot, drinking fountain and a small sink.

How picky do we need to be about employees leaving open bags of food (chips) or beverages on a provided rack in the lunchroom?

We just hired a new HR director, and she posted a bunch of signs saying it is a "SQF 2000 Violation". 

The photo she emailed around was a lunch bag with an open can of soda in the bottle holder.  

*Edit to add*
This is what our SQF policy says. 

Break Rooms

 Separate break room facilities are provided away from a food contact/handling zone.

Break room facilities are:

• Ventilated and well lit
• Provided with adequate tables and seating to cater for the maximum number of staff at one sitting.
• Equipped with a sink serviced with hot and cold potable water for washing utensils
• Equipped with refrigeration and heating facilities enabling them to store or heat food and to prepare non-alcoholic beverages if required; and
• Kept clean and free from waste materials and pests.

It would be best practice to keep those items closed as they can pose a risk of pest attraction.   it doesn't seem to be specifically addressed by SQFI.   

wrong way to address about any situation.  

Hi Miss Frankie,

Clearly this person is some sort of dinosaur and this is confirmed by calling it a SQF 2000 Violation!

Your policy is as per SQF Food Safety Code clause 11.3.5.9 requirements: Separate break rooms shall be provided away from food contact/handling zones. Break rooms shall be: …. etc.

So, no specific violation there, it is a housekeeping issue in this area. As per kingstudruler1’s post, you don’t want open foods left around that will attract pests.

Quite frankly you’d have thought a team brief might have been more effective. If this is the best use of this HR Director’s time then you need a new, new one!

:notworking:

Good luck in your future dealings with this one,

Tony

I am wondering why the HR director is thinking it's appropriate to take over your job.

I think it technically violates the point "Kept clean and free from waste materials and pests."

But in this case, such signs tend not to work. 

Ask people to clean up after themselves or assign people to do so instead.

If the problem persists, more drastic actions will be needed, but the signs should come down.

I believe you are also good and in compliance.  I would encourage them to close up any food or cover any drinks when they are done, just to not attract any pests.  Not a fan when others try to use SQF to scare employees into doing stuff.  I always say lets stick to what the standard says and lets not say it says something when it doesn't.  

Not an issue. It looks like a new management employee looking to seek their dominance on a mute issue. Good luck on other things they might come up with.

Thanks everyone!  
I agree that it's not the best idea to leave unopened cans.  
However, our SQF policy doesn't say that they can't.

My co-SQF Practitioner and I agree that it's worse to have the signs that not being followed as it looks like we're not enforcing our rules.
We will make new signs showing bugs entering open cans as a suggestion not to leave them. We have multiple languages and I've found photos often get the point across better anyway.

On the bright side, can't say you're lacking in management commitment if the HR Manager is taking it upon themselves to enforce SQF codes!  :silly:

Open containers and packages have been a source of observations for me in numerous customer audits over my years.  An auditor can make the case that a bag of chips left unsealed on a shelf or the table is a pest attractant and goes against 13.3.5.9 (v), so leftover items should ideally be closed/resealed and placed back in a cabinet or employee's bag or refrigerator.  Signage reminding employees to clean up after themselves is a valid way to communicate your policy, and if you're staffed for it, having a sanitation/custodian employee check breakrooms after breaks and lunch periods another way to ensure you don't get hit with a finding in this area.

Wow SQF 2000 - tell HR to keep their nose out of QA especially since the person is using outdated material - way outdated.

Basically this is a pest control issue, common sense really to keep things covered, secured, unopen, etc.

2000 - those were the days!

(Slightly OT)

On a contrarial element, there are 2-3 threads here discussing the closing/not closing of garbage containers with lids. IIRC SQF have seemingly always refrained from detailing this specific aspect (they do refer to closing of liquid waste containers).

Numerous posts (not mine) have argued against the closing due the difficulty in avoiding employee cross-contamination. (And even where foot-operated bins exist which have been claimed to additionally encourage overflowing).

Personally I would definitely not recommend the installation of a sign showing an un-lidded waste container.