How would condensation over a production line be scored on audit?
Hi, everyone. We have attained SQF certification this fall. It has been a big boost to my department and the company as a whole, and I want to continue to keep up to the standards for SQF and I want it to be a company mentality, not something we are rushing to get compliant on just before an audit.
Today we have a line operator in training and he forgot to turn on a ventilation fan in a process area and condensation started to form over the product line. The question I have is how this would be scored by an SQF auditor? I am pretty new to this world as such do not have a lot of experience in this and want to use this incident as training for our staff.
I personally would note it in an corrective action form, or program of the like, and that the condensation did not come in contact with any food products, or product contact surfaces. If it did, then what did you do to correct the problem, and how did you remove the condensation in a sanitary manner?
If this is a mistake that occurs semi-frequently, then you may have to have a check-off of some sorts so that you have noted how to correct a reoccurring problem in the long run.
The plant I work at has issues with condensation due to steam created by a shrink tunnel after the Cryovac machine. We ended up having to implement a condensation inspection to ensure no condensation is dripping on product.
If i was auditing and saw that there was condensation, but steps HAD been taken to control the hazard I would mention it and move on if you could show me it was part of a set up or Pre OP check to ensure all ventilation was operational, even a daily GMP where the deviation and correct measure had been recorded
If I as the auditor saw it and you were doing nothing to mitigate the risk...that would be a minor/major depending on whether I witnessed any condensation falling
Meat plants very often have dedicated ceiling sweepers...........walk around with really long handled squeegees making sure it's caught before it becomes an issue
Fans can only do so much........
If you want to convey the worst case scenario during your training... then yes, if condensation was seen falling onto a product line or product, it would be a major during an SQF audit and could potentially fail you. If you are USDA regulated, the inspector would likely stop production until you got it under control and give you an NR if they saw it.
You'd probably also want to touch on WHY condensation is such an issue - search for related topics on this forum and you'll get all kinds of info on the biological and physical hazards of cross-contamination from condensation.
Thanks for the replies. It was a training issue here and will now become a more in-depth part of our operator training. We did open a corrective action and resolved the issue in a sanitary manner.
From an SQF Auditor standpoint - condensation dripping downward over a line would be major - falling into product - show stopper critical.