Allergens and Engineers

Hello All,

I am hoping for your help in coming up with a procedure / policy for control of engineering tools with regards to allergens.

Each engineer has his own tool kit and the tools used on each breakdown / maintenance job are different depending on what is being done. Also as we have a number of lines that are the same it is not financially feasable to have a unique allergen toolkit, again the tools used depend on the breakdown.

In an example scenario the engineer attends a breakdown on a piece of machinery that is manufacturing a product containing allergens. Even if the kit doesn' t come into direct contact with the product it is likley that the engineer does, or that there is operator transfer to the area he is working on and the tools being used. Following this he is called to a breakdown on a another line. Tthe procedure we need therefore must be quick and easy in order for it to be complied with as there is always a level of urgency for repair but it does still need to be effective at removing allergens and ideally verifiable!

As you can see I am getting all tangled up in this, does anyone have an example procedure I can have a look at and any comments would be very gratefully received!

Hi DebD
With allergen control the first option is unique toolkits.
Failing that there needs to be a decontamination procedure, that can be as simple as wiping tools and washing hands, but do it based on a risk analysis in your plant.
Do validation swabbing to determine the effectiveness and dont forget the clothing.
The order of urgency is for you to determine... quick repairs or allergen free product with no cross contamination.. calculate the risk and formulate your policy/procedure accordingly

Cosmo

I agree with the comments made by Cosmo. It is also important that the enginners clothing is laudered by an approved laundering contractor and that their clothing are laundered regularly as a note for the policy.

Cheers

Ajay

If you produce foods containing allergens in the same area of the factory all the time, its a good idea to have a set of unique tools that remain in that area. If this is feasible then you can introduce disposable clothing so they can be discarded as the maintenance team leaves the area.

Great topic. We have an implied policy that when maintenance work is completed on allergen equipment that personnel must clean tools and change coveralls. We do not however, actually have it in a written format at this time (soon to change). It also helps to have an in house launderer as we do so staff have extra clothing for such cases.