Hi Moshes,
7.7 Protective Clothing
Clause 7.7.1 states for both category A & B suppliers "Appropriate protective clothing that cannot contaminate the product shall be worn".
For category B suppliers the requirements continue in clause 7.7.2 "The clothing shall have no external pockets on the upper body garments, and be fitted with press studs, not sewn-on buttons. Changes of such clothing shall be available at all times as required. Where appropriate, snoods for beards and moustaches shall be worn. Protective clothing worn in production areas shall provide adequate covering of scalp hair and upper torso. These garments shall not be worn to and from home.
Again IMO the BRC/IoP Packaging Standard is open to our interpretation here. Reading the above it does seem that it's OK for an extremely hairy man (or woman) to work in a food packaging production environment wearing just shorts and a t-shirt as long as they wear appropriate hair protection and a beard snood.
In saying that I think it's over to your hazard analysis/HACCP team again Moshes. What is the process? How do people work with the packaging? Is product protected? Is there a history of hair contamination complaints? What's the risk? What do you need to do to minimise the risk?
There are always more questions than answers and I have some:
What about eyebrows and eyelashes?
Is it necessary for a completely bald person to wear a hair net and if so shouldn't we all wear beard snoods?
:D
Regards,
Simon