Meat saw and broken blades.

Please help me decide what category this would fall under.

Our meat saw blades break about once a month, blade pieces that are not found right at the scene is picked up by our metal detector. No problem there.

My questions are, how or what paperwork should follow the incident?

Should the blades be listed on my Sharps/knife registry? 

Would if fall under maintenance and machinery preventative program as a non-conformance? corrective action?

I want to have some sort of SOP and paperwork for when the break happens, the operator can identify if he found the missing broken pieces of the blade or not, if the meat saw was taken out of production to have the blade replaced or if he just switched machines for the meantime, etc...Then I can keep the paperwork with the metal detector paperwork.

If anyone has ideas or examples I really appreciate the help. I am having the worst Brain Fart Friday!

Thanks!

So yes, your saw blade  should be included in your daily operations record and/or a blade record of some sort where it is checked regularly. I use a tool check record, all knives/blades etc are checked once/hour for integrity. Then you back that up with your detector record.

When the saw blade breaks, record the time, what was done and refer to the detector record as verification that nothing went out the door. 

If you know that the blade breaks regularly, then perhaps the PM frequency on it needs to increase so that the blade can be switched out prior to breaking?  I wouldn't call it a non conformance, it's a routine occurrence. Just follow up on your operations record for that day, yes it broke, no stray pieces went out the back door. Easy peasy

Please help me decide what category this would fall under..

 

Our meat saw blades break about once a month, blade pieces that are not found right at the scene is picked up by our metal detector. No problem there.

 

 

My questions are, how or what paperwork should follow the incident?

Should the blades be listed on my Sharps/knife registry? 

Would if fall under maintenance and machinery preventative program as a non-conformance? corrective action?

 

I want to have some sort of SOP and paperwork for when the break happens, the operator can identify if he found the missing broken pieces of the blade or not, if the meat saw was taken out of production to have the blade replaced or if he just switched machines for the meantime, etc...Then I can keep the paperwork with the metal detector paperwork.

 

If anyone has ideas or examples I really appreciate the help. I am having the worst Brain Fart Friday!

 

 

Thanks!

Hi ITP,

As per end comment  of previous Post, I suggest that the "red" above  is yr problem. With all due respect, sounds a bit like "Familiarity breeds Contempt".

I think you may have a somewhat incomplete risk assessment / hazard analysis / haccp plan for the process. It certainly sounds like yr metal detector should currently be an easily justified CCP.

haccp is intended to generate pro-active, preventive solutions.

How do you handle the cutting step in yr current haccp plan ? Low Risk due to later presence of metal detector ?

Based on a current risk assessment you might be able to usefully include yr cutting step as part of a combined control measure for the metal detector CCP.

Is it really typical for a blade to break one a month ? Lack of tempering frozen product ?

I just wonder if you have a "Root Cause" problem.

With respect to SOPs you might consider searching this forum for "sharps". But basically a SOP is just a procedure to reference any related Policy, what you are doing, who does it, how recorded, etc.

Hi ITP,

 

As per end comment  of previous Post, I suggest that the "red" above  is yr problem. With all due respect, sounds a bit like "Familiarity breeds Contempt".

 

I think you may have a somewhat incomplete risk assessment / hazard analysis / haccp plan for the process. It certainly sounds like yr metal detector should currently be an easily justified CCP.

 

haccp is intended to generate pro-active, preventive solutions.

 

How do you handle the cutting step in yr current haccp plan ? Low Risk due to later presence of metal detector ?

 

Based on a current risk assessment you might be able to usefully include yr cutting step as part of a combined control measure for the metal detector CCP.

 

Is it really typical for a blade to break one a month ? Lack of tempering frozen product ?

 

I just wonder if you have a "Root Cause" problem.

 

With respect to SOPs you might consider searching this forum for "sharps". But basically a SOP is just a procedure to reference any related Policy, what you are doing, who does it, how recorded, etc.

I have been working on my HACCP plan and I have determined the metal detector is a CCP for us. 

The cutting step is for frozen blocks of meat, to allow it to fit in the dicer. I had determined it's low-risk step, because of the MD CCP. 

I like the idea of the cutting step being a control measure for the Metal detector. This is what I am working on now, wondering how do I tie together. Is documentation of the break enough, when keep with metal detector records?

It's not typical for the blade to break once a month, it's very random but last year we had 10 breaks so almost once a month. This year we are at 4. 

Currently, the meat saw with blade intact is on the daily pre-op. It will be added to my Sharps/knife control program, I did overlook these blades when I originally did it.

I am also looking for different types of blades, if there is a more durable one out there I would love to know.

Hi ITP,

Scampi’s operational advice is pretty good IMO.

IMEX blade usage, per se, eg monitoring/replacement of blades, is usually a haccp PRP program.

I would regard the cutting machine set-up control as a maintenance SOP which would, inter alia, minimize the risk of operational breakage. Not sure how you are categorizing in yr haccp plan.

Is yr metal detector (time-wise) actually monitoring the daily output from the cutting step ? (Depends on the flowchart).

The cutting step is not a (safety) control measure, it may generate a specific  hazard – metal fragments.

I have no idea about meat (boneless?)/yr process but I have observed cutting frozen (deboned) fish blocks which also offer a good opportunity for snapped bandsaw blades. In this case, excessive saw breakages were particularly related to (a) machine speed, (b) blade quality, (c) machine set-up and (d) lack of tempering. A few users considered the tempering as a mental "CCP" although opinions varied as to the best setting. Depends on yr process of course.

I agree with scampi that some breakage is inevitable. The question is – is it excessive ? Presumably also related to yr volume of output / setup. If excessive might need to elevate to CCP the risk significance of the step to “assist” the MD/CCP. This would then demand a specific, relevant, control measure at the cutting point, eg observation (if meaningful).

Offhand, an average of once per month sounds not unusual if machine is in regular use. (most users auto-implement "observation" themselves IMEX, self-protection (!))

Not directly product related but you might find the hazard analysis, detailed PRPs, etc in this package of some interest –

http://www.ifsqn.com...mpany/#entry220

PS - I suspect it is not unusual for machine blade replacement to escape inclusion in a blade monitoring form.

PPS - regarding blade quality, machine suppliers are often well clued-in to this aspect. They have to be. And vice-versa also !.