Procedure to control the use and issue of sharps (blades, knives etc.)

Hi, Thanks for registering me. This is my first post. We are working in a dairy factory producing whey protein concentrates, acid casein, whey powder etc. We recently had an audit, where auditor demanded this "Procedure to control the use and issue of sharps (blades, knives etc.) must be in place. Snap blades must not be used." The auditor noted "The procedure must be documented" and but "observation" under the non-compliance head. We don't have any written procedure for this. Can anybody help me with a template. Regards

Firstly; Welcome to IFSQN.  :welcome: 

Secondly;

What is the auditing body, and specifically what is their guidance verbatim?

Even with the use of metal detection and x-ray, knives have a nasty habit of chipping into bits smaller or irregular forms than your calibration standards.  I would recommend for a start, creating a daily register of cutting implements by hygienic zones with an in/out type log.

Also, knives should be proofed as well with your ssop.

I've attached an example of a register, but as far as policy you should design that (and possibly modify the form) around the regulation.

(edit) I forgot to mention, frequency of verification depends on your production schedule and usage.

I absolutely agree with Slab!

 

In order to control your knives you have to come up with daily register and record every issuance and collection of knives. In my case there are 35 people in production both shifts, so I numbered knives and created simple spread sheet with names of all employees. Production supervisors are responsible for assigning the number to the employee and record it in the register. Once production done, supervisor collects the knives and checks if any part is missing. Your SOP should outline what you should do if missing. 

If you have more than 40 people you can create form for each shift with columns:

 

Issued to-knife#-returned-Part missing-part found-supervisor

 

Or something like that.

 

I hope you find it helpful,

 

Ostap

HI ALL,

 

think the idea to control the sharp objects has enlightened me alot

am very grateful for having joined this forum and discussion. :clap:

 

 

 

BEST REGARDS.