Pre-Requisite Programs of Warehouse Handling Food Products-Developing a Cleaning procedure

There is a bit of confusion when it comes to Prerequisite programs (PRPs) and operation prerequisite programs (OPRPs).

According to ISO 22000: 2018, Prerequisite programs are basic activities and conditions within an organization that are necessary to maintain food safety. They include activities such as cleaning, waste management, and pest control. Operational prerequisite programs are control measures or a combination of control measures applied to reduce a significant food safety hazard to an acceptable level, and where action criterion, observation, or measurement enable effective control of the product or the process. They are also known as control points.

Prerequisite programs take on different forms depending on the section of the food chain the company operates. These forms include but are not limited to the following;

Good manufacturing practice
Good hygiene practice
Good production practice
Good trading practice
Good distribution practice

Prerequisite programs are implemented to protect the food products at the warehouse from contamination by biological, chemical, and physical agents. Besides, they also control bacterial growth through temperature abuse.

These programs mainly focus on people, premises, and processes. Furthermore, for the HACCP program to function effectively, the PRPs must be in place and operational. Prerequisite programs cover low-risk food safety hazards, quality, and economic issues.

Note; PRPs must be developed and implemented before the development of a HACCP Program.

Prerequisite programs for warehouse include;

Cleaning and sanitation SOP
Temperature monitoring SOP
Pest control SOP
Preventive maintenance SOP
Calibration
Product recall
Traceability
Training
Personal hygiene

Cleaning Procedure

Cleaning a warehouse is not all about pouring soap and water on the ground, mopping it up, and you call it a day-no that’s not the case. It’s rather a complex process that must be done with the necessary due diligence. The cleaning process follows a sequence of cleaning, rinsing, and sanitizing. It requires professionalism, maximum effort, and extensive training. Proper cleaning of a warehouse requires the following;

Appropriate personal protective equipment
Cleaning equipment
Food approved cleaning chemicals
Material safety data sheet (MSDS)
Chemical storage area

Appropriate personal protective equipment

They are commonly called PPEs, and as the name states, they offer personal protection to the person engaged in the cleaning activities. They include but are not limited to the following;

Image shows some PPEs used in warehouses
Hard hut/helmet
Rubber gloves
Protective goggles
Safety waterproof boots/ rubber boots
Reflector vest
Protective mask

Cleaning equipment

There is a range of cleaning equipment that can be used to clean a warehouse handling food depending on the size and how technologically advanced the facility is. However, the basic equipment include but not limited to the following;

Bucket trolley
Mop head with handle (preferably a metallic handle)
Squeegee
Soft broom,
Hard brash.

All the equipment must be color-coded depending on the warehouse section they are used in. For instance, if the warehouse has a receiving area, dry goods store, chiller, freezer, changing rooms and lavatories, and a lobby.

The equipment used in the cold storage units can be coded blue, red for the changing rooms and lavatories, and yellow for the rest of the places. The reason for color-coding is to prevent cross-contamination because each section presents a different microbial contamination risk- Changing rooms and lavatories are the most high-risk areas and are home to the one most “notorious” microbial contaminants such as E. coli O157:

Caution during cleaning

Please note the following when carrying out cleaning activities;

Take care to avoid spillage of water on the products as this can lead to product contamination and product carton damage. In the case of accident sprinkling, the affected product should be put on hold, transferred to the non-conforming area of the warehouse, and record its details in the non-conforming record while waiting for further inspection of the quality control/assurance personnel.
Sanitation staff is forbidden from directly handling food products stored at the warehouse simply because they are exposed to high-risk areas when carrying out their activities and are a possible source of contamination.
Cleaning equipment should be away from the food products in a designated and clearly labeled area. It is advised to keep both cleaning equipment and chemicals under lock and key.
The cleaning personnel should be well trained in handling, mixing, and usage of the different cleaning chemicals.
The material safety data sheets should be kept in an easily accessible area in case it is in hard copy. For soft copies, it should be easy to retrieve in the shortest time possible.

Approved cleaning chemicals

Chemicals used to clean warehouses handling food (or any other food facility) are different from those used in other warehouses. One notable difference is that chemicals used in the food facility are not perfumed to prevent tainting of food products. For cleaning chemicals to be approved, they have to meet specific criteria set by statutory or a regulatory authority-remember this change from country to country.

Chemical storage area

Cleaning chemicals and equipment must be kept in a designated area and preferably under lock and key with controlled access. The reason is to limit accessibility to chemicals as a means of following Food defense guidelines.

Developing a Cleaning Procedure

The cleaning procedure has to be specific to a particular section of a warehouse and include what to clean, defined frequency, and method of cleaning used. Furthermore, the cleaning procedure lists the approved chemicals, their respective concentration, and the cleaning equipment used (Chemical concentration ratios are provided by the manufacturer).

Different areas in the warehouse house have specific cleaning standard operation procedures (SOP) such as Floor and wall cleaning SOP, Sink cleaning SOP, Rank cleaning SOP, and Equipment cleaning SOP. These SOPs detail the cleaning method, chemicals used, frequency of cleaning, the designated cleaning personnel, and methods of verification. Appendix 1 shows a sample of cleaning SOP for a particular area.

Develop a master cleaning and sanitation schedule that shows; the area cleaned, the frequency, method of cleaning, approved chemicals used, the person responsible, and verification methods.

Areas to clean include but are not limited to the following; storage area floor, doors, walls, ceiling, racks, pallets, and plastic curtains.

Check Appendix 2 for a sample of a master cleaning and sanitation master schedule.

Note:

Cleaning and sanitation staff must be trained in cleaning SOPs, and records for their training filed.
The cleaning schedule must cover all sites of the warehouse.
All the cleaning activities are recorded in the cleaning SOP record (Appendix 3).

Let further look at handling of cleaning equipment and chemicals

How to handle cleaning equipment

Handling cleaning equipment is vital in maintaining food safety. In food handling facilities, cleaning equipment are distinguished by colour-coding. Colour coding refers to the process of assigning distinctive colours to cleaning equipment basing on the area/section of the warehouse they are used. This is a common practice in hospitals as well. Different sections present different food safety risks and the most high-risk sections are the bathrooms, toilets, and changing rooms: in some facilities, all these are combined into one section. When colour-coding equipment such as mopping trolleys, buckets, squeegee, and brushes, used in high-risk areas such as toilets and bathrooms, they are assigned unique colours, and efforts are dedicated to teaching the warehouse staff the different colour for all sections in the facility. Teaching can be done through easy-to-understand posters pinned around the facility, orienting the new staff about the different colours, and onsite training in case of a deviation.

Handling of chemicals

Besides food safety risks, cleaning chemicals pose a health risk if mishandled by the facility’s staff intentionally or by accident. You may be wondering how "intentionally" comes into the mix. Chemicals can be used to cause harm by staff to colleagues. This can be because of disputes among staff or motives known better by the perpetrators. It’s, therefore, the duty of the warehouse management to protect the food products under its care and its staff from chemical mishandling risk. Let's have a look at how it is done;

Lock and key

Cleaning chemicals must be kept under lock and key. The facility can designate a special room or cabin (metallic or wooden) to store its chemicals. The choice of the material depends on the nature of cleans used at the facility, for example, metal corrosive chemicals shouldn’t be kept in metallic cabins.

Restricted access

Not everyone should have access or later on handle cleaning chemicals. This restricted access policy is meant to control usage, avoid accidental spillage of chemicals that can cause product contamination or malicious acts by not-so-good characters. The warehouse management should document and keep records of whoever has access to the chemical storage area, and if possible, provide a form signed whenever any staff access this area.

Documents involved

Material safety data sheets (MSDs)

Material safety data sheets, sometimes referred to as product safety data sheets (PSDs) are documents that detail occupational hazards and corresponding first aid instructions of chemicals or substances used at the facility. This document can be provided by the supplier of the specified chemicals or downloaded from the manufacturer’s website. However, in the case of online MSDs care should be taken not to download an outdated version of the MSD or downloading it from a non-authoritative site. The warehouse management can decide to keep MSDs or PSDs in soft copy; however, they should be easy to retrieve when needed.

Labels of chemical brands

The labels of every cleaning chemical used at the warehouse must be kept on file in a hard copy format or soft copy format. For the latter, it should be easily retrievable when needed—Just like for the MSDs, different safety standards have different time limits given to retrieve soft copy documents.

Training records

The warehouse staff designated to handle chemicals must be trained and evidence for training should be kept on file. This evidence can be a knowledge check or a test with score marks indicating a pass or failure. In case of failure, the staff should be retrained again.

Appendix

Search This Blog

HACCP PROGRAM FOR WAREHOUSES.

HACCP Program for Warehouse Handling Food Products- A simple Guide for Startups