Visitors Questionnaire Query

When I joined the company I inherited a visitors questionnaire which asked 'Have you visited a meat processing plant within the last 24hrs?'.  No one knew the rationale as to why this was included and what to do if anyone answered yes.  When the form was revised a few years later the question was removed and the subject has never been raised by either a customer or a BRC auditor.  A member of staff who had visited a food manufacturing factory recently said the questionnaire they completed included this question.

Does anyone include this question in their visitors questionnaire?

If yes and a visitor has answered yes to visiting  a meat processing plant what action was taken?

and why is this question included?

Thanks

I'd have that on a questionnaire for visiting a poultry or pork barn but not a meat processing plant.

I have seen and signed off on many visitor question forms that wanted to know if I have been in a chicken processing facility within the past 24-72 hours but never just a meat processing facility.

Could it be a BSE control measure in UK?

The question should be if the visitor has recently visited poultry slaughtery or poultry farm. The question is mostly included in questionnaires for poultry processing plants, pork processing plant  or ready to eat manufacturing plants.

This question is related to the risk of taken Salmonella with you and introducing in the plant.

It is kind of the same question if the visitor has been in contact with ill persons (infectious diseases, food poisoning or food infection) in the last 72 hours.The risk is the same.

When I joined the company I inherited a visitors questionnaire which asked 'Have you visited a meat processing plant within the last 24hrs?'.  No one knew the rationale as to why this was included and what to do if anyone answered yes.  When the form was revised a few years later the question was removed and the subject has never been raised by either a customer or a BRC auditor.  A member of staff who had visited a food manufacturing factory recently said the questionnaire they completed included this question.

 

Does anyone include this question in their visitors questionnaire?

 

If yes and a visitor has answered yes to visiting  a meat processing plant what action was taken?

 

and why is this question included?

 

Thanks

Hi Classic,

Personally i have never encountered the question you refer.

It has some similarity to an Inspector's "rule of thumb" I met for assessing seafood storage units - no meat/poultry may be stored in same room. For something like (Poultry/Campylobacter/non-Poultry) raw materials there may be some logical direct validation. For finished, packed, goods in a Cold Store rather more problematic IMO.

I guess the logic (rightly or wrongly) is an interpretation of the  "Precautionary Principle", in this case Guilty by Association.

I predict the intended corrective action was some, possibly stricter, version of "refusal of entry to production-related areas".

Based on the previous posts, i guess the inclusion of such question and the corrective action to a "yes" might relate to (a) Company Policy, (b) what kind of business you are doing, (c) Your Risk assessment. ??

Unless you strictly follow the Precautionary Principle of course.

Yes, we have a similar question and also include farms.  The rationale is that the person is then more likely to have pathogenic organisms, particularly salmonella on their skin so it's an opportunity to ask if they've had any illness but also if they haven't to remind the visitor of good handwashing procedures. 

I have to admit I can't remember where it came from but I suspect it was from a UK retailer.