I came across an interesting research article concerning the hygienic working practices of maintenance personnel and maintenance equipment hygiene in the Finnish food industry. Ok so they are on the other side of the world, but I must say, it makes one think.
This study involved an extensive survey of maintenance and quality staff regarding tools, protective clothing, washing of hands, and practices as well as avoiding foreign bodies left on the production lines. Micro swabs were taken of protective clothing and tools to determine possible cross-contamination.
So, what are the principles that are being investigated?
We understand that micro-organisms can become fixed to surfaces. These surfaces can then further cross-contaminate the next batch of products in contact. Although we agree that maintenance personnel does not actually touch the raw materials or food products, they presumably touch a multitude of surfaces in contact with unpacked products when they dismantle machinery for cleaning procedures and reassemble it after cleaning in addition to maintaining the operation of machinery during production.
The results of an anonymous survey of 184 food companies in Finnland highlighted the following:
Protective clothes, work practices, and hygiene rules
61%
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Most of the maintenance personnel work in the production area continuously (61%) or at least five times (23.7%) during a work shift
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42.4%
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42.4% reported having touched surfaces with contact in food often or always and while working in the production area.
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42.4%
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The study showed alarmingly low numbers washed their hands after smoking and before starting to work. Only 42.4% washed their hands before entering the production area.
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Tools and foreign bodies
32.2%
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One-third (32.2%) of the respondents answered that they washed their tools once a day or always after work. The others answered that they washed their tools more seldom and 32.2% only once a year or never.
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89.8%
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Almost all (89.8%) of the maintenance personnel had personal tools which they themselves cleaned but for common tools, no persons were in charge of the cleaning in 71.9% of all the cases reported (n = 57).
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?
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According to the majority of maintenance personnel, foreign bodies are never or seldom left on surfaces after the maintenance work but, when the production and quality personnel were asked these questions they clearly differed.
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Cleaning and protective clothing
A majority of them considered that there were enough washing points available for cleaning tools, and adequate cleaning agents and disinfectants were also available. This was also the case with sets of protective clothing available.
Microbial sampling
The researchers found evidence of microbial growth on tools which confirms that these tools can be a source of cross-contamination if not cleaned after use or between jobs.
So what can we learn from this research:
1
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The maintenance personnel in food plants must move between the production and non-production areas and touch food contact surfaces frequently during the course of their work - the washing of hands must be enforced.
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2
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This study also showed that some of the maintenance personnel did not know where they could find the hygiene rules. The rules are available for all. They must also be clear and planned especially paying attention to the maintenance personnel and their work. Training is essential.
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3
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Tools should be cleaned and disinfected regularly to ensure that bacteria cannot be transferred via tools onto food contact surfaces.
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What should we do:
Use these questions to determine what happens in your plant? Rather ask the questions and be prepared to deal with the truth than assume things are going according to plan.
It is clear that quality and maintenance must work together.
References:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956713505001714
