Maintaining Warehouse Floors
Our recertification audit is next week already. Excited to get this performed Last year we received a minor for our warehouse floor stating that there were several patches on the floor in the warehouse with the surface of the floor decomposing. We corrected several areas to close out the finding. We focused on the deep patches that would be the biggest concern. Since then, we also had some areas in our converting floor done. We also had some additional areas in the warehouse done and will have another set here tomorrow.
We started focusing on the deep ones as I said from the finding in the audit. Then went with our converting area as that would be a higher risk/concern. Now following up with some less shallow ones at about 1/2 inch. My question or my needing guidance for or to calm my nerves is, we will obviously not get every small patch in time of the audit. What should be left are small patches that are barely 1/4" deep and not even a 1/2" wide, will our work show that we are still working on this? Will this help in not getting potentially hit for a major if the auditor would say we did not properly close out the finding from the last audit? We could not and can not shut down the whole warehouse, empty out and resurface the floors, it would be a hinderance to our company, but we are actively working on patching areas of concern. Would it help to document what we have done and plan on continuing doing? Appreciate any insight.
Document document document
If you can effectively demonstrate that you are working towards this on a schedule, I cannot see how an auditor would fault you
I'm assuming they accepted your action to close out the finding when you provided it. So I'm with Scampi. They can not fault you, but you'd better show continuous improvement and eventually a solid floor with the entire issue handled a couple of months/years down the line.
Have a schedule of all the areas that needs to be fixed, who will do it and when. It might be good. But if you just say it orally, might be very effective way to justify.
This one could be tricky... Last year's corrective action response should have included proof the findings were being corrected along with a way to ensure they will not repeat in the future. While the tracks might not the same ones last year's auditor found, the presence of the new ones that haven't been captured might be seen as your program being insufficient to control the problem.
Any crack you've found needing repair should be documented on work order for pending repairs. That will show you've found the cracks before the auditor did, and you're actively working towards the fix (waiting on contractors, materials, what have you).
In a past facility I worked, we had a large pothole in warehousing we covered with a large metal plate, screwed to the floor. That was the bandaid the owners wanted to run for that audit, and because it worked, they left it instead of paying for expensive patchwork. That spot always got mentioned by auditors in following years, but they never cited us for it.
Thanks! Do want to put it out there that in all of my career, where I am currently at, this management team is hugely supportive of quality and food safety. It's just we are a small company (15 total).
Auditor last year documented the finding as several gaps where granite is showing. Those ones have been taken care of and were the ones completed by the flooring company to close out the audit. The quote from the floor company along with pictures of the fixes were submitted as evidence. We were being truthful in what we fixed. We are just taking extra steps to address other areas to stay ahead of it. We do have a documented plan, which I updated yesterday. So I am hopeful that we can show that we are working on this.
As always, appreciate the feedback from this community.
We recently completed an AIB GMP audit and we too were given an NC for our flooring. Now our floors a lot of dings and marks but his concern was those that were deep enough to show the aggregate in the flooring. So that it was we attempted to have repaired. We did the ones the auditor identified and some other more noticeable ones. I am under the belief that if we could not see aggregate they were passed over on our repair plan for the time being. We shall see at the next audit.