Self-care laundry

Dear all, 

I am trying to write the self-care laundry permit  in BRC ISSUE 5,Packaging clause 6.5.9 . 

I would like to ask you if I can write a procedure for  protective clothing for the people to wash it at home. Is it compatible with BRA clause ,please ?

• instruction form how to wash protective cloths at home . Do you have any example ?
• What kind equipment should be provided with suitable means to safety transport  washed garments from home to the workplace? Is a plastic bag enough ?
• How I could monitoring the effectiveness of the system? 

Thank you in advance 

Looks like this recent topic covers most of your questions: http://www.ifsqn.com...f-care-laundry/

Thanks a lot .

Hi , 

I looked the link that you send me . 

How I could control the process ? Can i use SWAB test or another equipment like black light ?

Hi,

We have the monitoring as part of our GMP audit.

Supervisor look at staff apparel on a daily basis but it is documented on a weekly/monthly GMP audit record. We provide plastic bags. They are in a dispenser similar to a tissue box or a box of disposable gloves, but bigger. At shift change the supervisor or manager is at the clock-in station and can see if staff are wearing the work wear as they come and go. Swabbing is a bit extreme IMO for a packaging company. Generally the supervisory staff are in the vicinity and can judge the odour/ visual cleanliness of overalls.  But as you know this needs to be recorded. You can set the frequency of documenting this by risk assessment.

Thank you for your enquiry to the BRC Global Standards team.

Regarding 6.5.9, the interpretation guideline states:

Self-care laundry

“Home laundering may be the simplest option for many companies; however, this needs to be controlled by wrien instructions to staff that include how garments are to be washed (temperature, detergent, specifying items not to be washed together, and drying instructions). Employees must be provided with a suitable means to safely transport garments from home to the workplace (sealable plastic bags or similar).

“There must be a defined responsibility within the company for monitoring the effectiveness of the system. This is typically achieved by visual inspection. There must also be a procedure and system for effectively dealing with any case where employees are unable to do the laundry themselves, either through lack of diligence or through lack of facilities. This system must be capable of being brought into immediate effect once a problem has been identified.”

Ultimately, the intention is to ensure that the clothing worn by production staff does not pose a hazard to the product, echoing the statement of intent for 6.5, that protective clothing is to protect the product from contamination.

Please do not double post in other threads.

You are the BRC Global Standards Team answering yr own Questions ??

Weird.