5 replies to this topic

[Scooper]

I work for an injection moulding and assembling business manufacturing food contact packaging. Temperatures in the Summer will be around, if not exceeding, high 30's degree Centigrade. Current PPE is hairnet and overalls/boiler suits. The question has been raised again about letting operators wear shorts under their overalls.

Our current policy states:-

All staff working in factory or warehouse areas must wear suitable, clean protective overalls or boiler suits supplied by the Company. They must be properly fastened at all times.



Clothing must be kept clean and should be changed and laundered each week in order to protect the product from contamination. Legs must be covered and protective footwear must be worn.

All product comes off the machine conveyors into lined boxes, most of which are positioned on stands so are off the floor. This places the open section of the box well above knee height of the operators. On the odd exception we have product dropping into a box at floor level height from the under-bed conveyor.

I would like to introduce a hot weather dress code that allows operators to wear shorts, as long as they extend down far enough to cover the knees. This is just so that there is an easy to monitor standard of what length is acceptable.

We have carried out a risk assessment of leg hair contaminating product and concluded that it was negligible.

Does anyone else out there in food contact packaging have a relaxed code for the hot weather? I'd be interested in any comments and advice.

[Charles.C]

Dear Scooper,

Welcome to the forum !

Thanks for the detailed question.
Not my area but I remember a related query came up recently. The packaging crowd should help shortly.

Rgds / Charles.C

[GMO]

Having worked a lot in food contact high risk, I don't remember any rules stating legs must be covered under coats. The dress code is the coats which covers below the knee. Thinking about it, there's nothing preventing nakedness apart from the embarassment of climbing over the barrier baring all!

I think you have to think of the risks and customer perception. I have worn skirts in high risk areas (yes I am female before you get ideas). I don't see any reason why shorts would be a problem apart from making men look like they're wearing a dress but some customers may disagree. It depends for me on how good your PPE controls are. I once visited a packaging site and saw awful practices; seeing people in shorts with no covering was only one of the things I saw. I guess if it's regularly audited I'd go for it. I'd rather bare legs than bare arms any day.

[Sirius]

I would tend to agree with GMO: the clothing worn underneath the overalls/boiler suit is of no relevance to any standards that may apply. At least, not to food safety/quality. Where you may have problems is under any Occupational Health, Safety & Welfare regulations (especially with short clothing getting caught in rollers, etc).

In this regard, I would daresay that the uniform is part of OHS&W in that it is meant to protect the employee rather than pass on any benefits to quality of production.

If it was me, I would look at changing up the environment of the workplace. The most obvious would air-conditioning, evaporative coolers, heat exchange pumps, fans and air flow (too mention a few). My thinking would be that it would be much easier to setup and maintain a cooling unit than it would be payout workers compensation due to injury.

I would not alter the PPE aspect of your business to allow them to wear shorts instead of their overalls/boiler suits. The risks far outweigh any grumbling about the weather. Having said that, the comfort of your workers is also paramount and can be solved without endangering them.

Hope this helps.

[Scooper]

Thanks GMO and Sirius. Lovely as it would be to air condition the whole manufacturing area unfortunately, due to the enormous cost plus the conditons of our rental agreement, it is not an option. We do use localised evaporative coolers, but this can cause issues; condensation forming on chiller equipment, moisture can affect the finish of the moulded parts and the increased humidity can make the envirnonment feel much hotter for the operators.

With regard to the PPE we are not looking to replace the overalls/boilersuits with shorts, just to change from a covered legs at all times policy to allow the wearing of shorts underneath overalls. I agree with GOM that what the operators choose to wear under their boiler suits is a matter of their modesty in the changing areas (separate ones for men and women).

As a woman fairly new to the food contact packaging industry (previously in medical device manufacture where the dress code is comensurate with manufacturing in class 10,000 cleanrooms) I did think that our mandatory requirement for female staff in the manufacturing areas to always wear tights if they wear skirts a little demanding. Hopefully the revised dress code will make life a little more bearable this summer.

Thanks again both of you for your comments.

[Simon]

I would like to introduce a hot weather dress code that allows operators to wear shorts, as long as they extend down far enough to cover the knees. This is just so that there is an easy to monitor standard of what length is acceptable.

Yep and as long as they wear long socks pulled up passed the knee then bingo.

Seriously this problem is widespread in the UK. Air con is expensive and the bean counters are unlikely to go for it for the two weeks or so of extreme heat we suffer. Plus it's only the workers and the offices are quite comfortable thanks.

I think the risks are negligible and as long as you can show a documented hazard analysis and it is clearly written in the policy what 'the rules' are then I would say it's OK. In your rules make sure you have an agreed temperature trigger for shorts on and shorts off - if you get my drift.

Welcome to the forums scooper.

Regards,
Simon