Glass and plastic audit requirements for warehousing
Started by msterritt, Dec 13 2012 09:33 PM
We are SQF Level II certified distribution warehouse and in the middle of our version 7 rewrite. We don't process or make any food. We ship in prepackaged and palletized goods, store them and ship them out. I was just wondering what the requirement is for a glass, plastic and ceramic audit? Is this still a requirement for us to do?
Thanks
Thanks
Do we really need a map of glass and brittle plastic items?
How should glass and brittle plastics be managed in trucks and hysters that enter and exit scope areas?
Glass Tupperware in a food manufacturing facility that has a separate Non-GMP lunchroom?
SQF 9.7.3.2 - Glass Inventory
Tablets glass condition register
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Do you have any damaged pallets or boxes of product? What do you do with it?
I would suggest at least making a glass and brittle plastic audit part of your GMP walk through to demonstrate that your facility tracks and repairs bad/broken lighting.
S
I would suggest at least making a glass and brittle plastic audit part of your GMP walk through to demonstrate that your facility tracks and repairs bad/broken lighting.
S
Apologies, double post!
S.
S.
I would concur with Setanta. While you are not directly processing food, and thus are not working with exposed food product, you will want to have given due diligence to this subject. Auditors are quick to point out the "worst case scenario" to you during an audit, and many times that is to see if you have even considered it yourself - which you should. Questions like, "what happens if glass breaks overhead and the shards cover a pallet bound for shipment? what is your procedure for cleaning up the debris and ensure that all glass has been disposed of and the pallet is contaminant free?", then of course, demonstration of that through risk determination, audits, and breakage reports.
You might find this useful: http://www.ifsqn.com...MS Brochure.pdf
You might find this useful: http://www.ifsqn.com...MS Brochure.pdf
I do understand the validity of auditing our glass breakage for the reasons mentioned above. When it comes to auditing all of the brittle plastic in the warehouse that seems like a very large task or maybe I am thinking to deeply into what brittle plastic is (light switches, plugs, exit lights, pvc pipes for storm water drainage). How would you recommend handling this?
A risk based approach that makes sense for your operation. You aren't dealing with raw, exposed product but you are dealing with packaged food that is destined for shipment. What if a customer were to purchase that product so they could unpackage it and "rework" it into another final product? I recently blogged on this very subject. My personal opinion is that the act of registering every small piece of glass and then walking around with my clipboard is a waste of time. Controlling your program through establishing a robust plan (SOP), educating your staff, following through with breakage and personnel inspection procedures, etc. are were you gain true success. If my breakage procedure is severely lacking, I am setting myself up for failure and my risk goes up, thus increasing the frequency of the audit. Vice versa, if my control is such that the risk itself has been reduced, I can reduce the frequency of my audits (based on the verified level of control).
Funny story: during one audit, I was walking through the warehouse discussing the very matter of a glass recall that another manufacturer was having when the auditor and I both stopped after hearing glass crunch under our feet. An unprotected light had fallen to the floor below. The warehouse supervisor swore it had to be within minutes, because he had double checked the warehouse before we got there. Murphy's law in action!!
Funny story: during one audit, I was walking through the warehouse discussing the very matter of a glass recall that another manufacturer was having when the auditor and I both stopped after hearing glass crunch under our feet. An unprotected light had fallen to the floor below. The warehouse supervisor swore it had to be within minutes, because he had double checked the warehouse before we got there. Murphy's law in action!!
1 Thank
I agree. What is the likelihood of the light switch breaking and becoming on issue in your product?
We have a monthly glass and brittle plastic audit (we are a manufactruing facility) but it doesn't include light switches. We have our lighting fixtures covered, sure, and some gauges that are directly over product lines, but most of it is managed with daily Pre-Op checklists. We do not audit PVC pipes, again, think likelihood. The risk of a forklift rising too high and taking out a fixture is significantly greater than a pipe breaking. (hopefully in my continued experience--thinking of Murphy)
Doing a walk through, and having work orders in place to correct any issues seems to be a small amount of work with a larger pay-out.
We have a monthly glass and brittle plastic audit (we are a manufactruing facility) but it doesn't include light switches. We have our lighting fixtures covered, sure, and some gauges that are directly over product lines, but most of it is managed with daily Pre-Op checklists. We do not audit PVC pipes, again, think likelihood. The risk of a forklift rising too high and taking out a fixture is significantly greater than a pipe breaking. (hopefully in my continued experience--thinking of Murphy)
Doing a walk through, and having work orders in place to correct any issues seems to be a small amount of work with a larger pay-out.
1 Thank
We are SQF Level II certified distribution warehouse and in the middle of our version 7 rewrite. We don't process or make any food. We ship in prepackaged and palletized goods, store them and ship them out. I was just wondering what the requirement is for a glass, plastic and ceramic audit? Is this still a requirement for us to do?
Thanks
The requirements are clearly noted in the SQF Code Version 7 manual - example for module #11 .... 11.7.5 Control of Foreign Matter Contamination
Glenn Oster
http://www.GetGoc.com
Do we really need a map of glass and brittle plastic items?
How should glass and brittle plastics be managed in trucks and hysters that enter and exit scope areas?
Glass Tupperware in a food manufacturing facility that has a separate Non-GMP lunchroom?
SQF 9.7.3.2 - Glass Inventory
Tablets glass condition register
Mayonnaise Glass Bottling Plant Process
Glass Registry
BRCGS 4.9.3 Glass, brittle plastic, ceramics, and similar
Glass Policy and SOP
Glass and Hard plastic check