I strongly recommend to totally ban any CELL PHONES USE within the production area.
Firstly, a cell phone is a highly contaminated source for bacteria and any other microbes. In recent times , a cell phone has become like a body part and one carries it anywhere and everywhere. In general there are several hygiene protocols mandatory in food industry. Just as a recapitulation I would like to delineate them here.
* No Smoking and No spitting within the production area
* No chewing tobacco/arecnut / chewing gum
* No eating /drinking
* No wearing of bangles
* No wearing of watches
* No ear rings/Nose rings
* No finger rings
* No nail polish/ nail art
* No nails ( fingernails should be trimmed regularly)
* No Necklaces
* No buttons on the exterior of aprons/ dust coats
* No pockets on the exterior of aprons/ dust coats
* No beards / No long moustaches / long hair
* Staff wearing spectacles should clean them daily with alcohol at the beginning of work
* Staff with hearing aids should also clean them with alcohol
* While at work , if there is any product spillage on the apron / dust coat, they should be removed and sent for laundry immediately
* Dust coats/ aprons and caps should be laundered at regular intervals or changed daily in critical production areas
* Gloves - if disposable, should be discarded at the end of the shift. If reusable , there should be a systematic washing and cleaning of the gloves on a daily basis.
* Gum boots should be cleaned on a daily basis
* Coughing / sneezing directly on to a food surface should be avoided
* In sterile or long life products processing and packing area , the production personnel should wear mouth masks and further should talk and discuss to the minimum required.
* General health screening programmes at scheduled intervals must be organised for the production staff..
* Into this list of food safety protocols we should include PROHIBITION OF THE USE OF MOBILES / CELL PHONES. Apart from a high source of contamination, the cell phones distract the workers on the production floor. A system of receiving emergency calls to a designated phone number in the factory should be planned. Such emergency calls should be received at the reception or office desk and the critical information should be transferred to the concerned staff internally and immediately.
I have tried to include all commonly known prohibited items in a typical food industry. If any of them are left out, please include them into this list appropriately. I hope this information will be useful to all my food industry professionals. Any comments / feed back is welcomed.
Thanks and Regards