10 replies to this topic

[MOOCHIE]

Hello all

Bit of advice

we were picked up recently on a customer audit for

'the site have not formally risk assessed the risk of foreign body material coming from third party lorries delivering materials to the site.  Whilst an intake inspection is in place, site needs to have an understanding of the controls of risks from such lorries'

Has anyone got any documents they could share please

[GMO]

Did they have a specific example?

 

The one I can think of is when you're using bulkers (e.g. vegetable transfer vehicles for unwashed vegetables) and you can have lights on them which could become a risk.  Same with tankers to a degree although with direct hook up the risk is much lower.

 

What might be worth doing is producing a training document and visual for people checking incoming lorries (whatever kind you're referring to) and the kinds of things to look for.  E.g. broken lights, rust, o rings on hook ups etc as well as the obvious signs of broken pallets, pests etc.  Reading between the lines (I might be making big assumptions here), it reads to me like there are intake checks but the team didn't know what kind of things to look for.

[jfrey123]

Usually in a HACCP flow's receiving step, we'll call out plausible hazards from shipping:  items spilled from other pallets on a LTL shipment, punctured/damaged cases, etc., and all of that is controlled by an inspection form where we document checking for such hazards.  To GMO's point, if you're receiving open air products like raw agricultural in open, breathable containers, your inspection will need to be a bit more thorough at the receiving step.  If all ingredients are tightly packaged and sealed, pffff, the truck itself isn't going to introduce FM outside of you discovering a spill or broken package.

[MDaleDDF]

I have a tab in my hazard analysis about foreign material risk in the facility.   It doesn't exclusively cover unloading trucks, but could be explained to be an umbrella over it, or you could easily add a tab to yours with a quick ra over the specific subject.   Quick n easy.   Maybe tie it to truck inspections, training sheets if needed.

[Tony-C]

Hi MOOCHIE,

 

It would be useful to know what the incoming materials are and the packaging format.

 

Clearly if you buying in open products/materials then that is a far greater risk.

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony

[GMO]

Apologies, I have to admit I missed the "risk assessment" part.  Certainly if you have open produce like I suggested or liquids or powders, e.g. carrots, flour, milk then a risk assessment is very much required as the risk is much higher.  If all materials are enclosed, I suppose you could say it's a good idea but the controls will just be pretty generic and normally specified in various standards.  Obviously the risk assessment will drive the documentation and training.

[MOOCHIE]

in a recent audit as i said, the auditor was looking through previous intake records and it was noted that glass had been found on some pallets which 'highlighted the need to have an understanding of control of risks from such lorries'

basically knowing where the lorries had been prior to delivering to our site 

[jfrey123]

Well that's a problem.  Some of the major retailers in the US would reject an entire truck of goods without batting an eyelash if they found such a thing during unloading.  At a bare minimum it would need to be addressed by interviewing the driver and getting on the phone with the supplier to see who is to blame.  It would need to be subjected to intense inspection if you chose to receive it:  I'm talking down-stacking every single case from every single pallet to document whether the glass is between boxes or not, heavily documenting what is found exactly where.  I know truck inspections can get lax by the staff performing them, but this example is a solid reminder that the very first place to control FM in your plant is the receiving dock.

 

So whatever your procedure is there, it needs to be documented with the risk assessment to justify how you could consider accepting such a load, or why it is justified to reject and return it to the supplier.

[Tony-C]

in a recent audit as i said, the auditor was looking through previous intake records and it was noted that glass had been found on some pallets which 'highlighted the need to have an understanding of control of risks from such lorries'

basically knowing where the lorries had been prior to delivering to our site 

 

 

Hi Moochie,

 

Just to confrim, do you mean that 'broken glass' was found on some pallets or that there were glass items on the same delivery?

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony

[MOOCHIE]

broken glass was found on the bottom of the trailer bed and some fragments on some of the pallets

[GMO]

What did the supplier RCA find as the root causes for the issues?  Was there anything which needed to be incorporated into your processes?  For example, was it from lights in the trailer itself?  Do they have an inspection process which you mandate in your agreements?  Were they using the vehicle for other loads?  Do you restrict this in your agreements with them etc.

 

So if it was from a previous load for example, what your auditor might be after is an understanding with your haulier on what they transport and, if there is risk in this, how you can mitigate it.  For example, can you have a written agreement with them (which may have to be a contract addendum for now) to restrict what they transport?  At least for your loads?  And that they inspect the lorries and keep a record of it which can be made available to you at any time etc?  So it's not just understanding the risk but when the risk is known, what actions you need to put in place between you and the haulier to prevent.

 

OR, if it was simply that they do have a process but weren't following it, you'd need to understand with them why that was and what they've put in place to address that.

 

If they can't avoid transporting glass packaged items, then it's up to you if you want to put up with that risk but they may be able to mitigate it with a recorded glass breakage procedure and post glass load / pre inspection before loading.

 

I'd also consider pallet risk in case they are reusing pallets from a glass site.