Hi all, I recently moved as an SQF practitioner from food manufacturing to food packaging and have a question about clothing and personal effects (section 13.3.3). This section states:
The site shall have a clothing and hair policy that protects raw and packaging materials, work-in-progress, food sector packaging, and product contact surfaces from unintentional contamination.
Clothing worn by staff engaged in handling food sector packaging shall be maintained, stored, laundered, and worn so as not to present a contamination risk to products.
Clothing worn by staff engaged in manufacturing and warehouse processes shall be made from materials that will not contaminate raw and packaging materials, workin-progress, and food sector packaging. Clothing and shoes shall be clean at the commencement of each shift, maintained in a serviceable condition, and changed where they present a product contamination risk.
When protective clothing (e.g. frocks, smocks, aprons, boots, gloves, face shields, etc.) is used, hooks racks, cabinets, or other forms of off the floor storage shall be provided for temporary storage when staff leave the manufacturing area and shall be provided in close proximity or adjacent to the personnel access doors and handwashing stations. All clothing stored on-site shall be maintained and stored so as not to present a contamination risk to raw or packaging materials, work-in-progress, and food sector packaging.
Gloves used when handling food sector packaging material shall be clean and replaced when needed.
Jewelry and other loose objects shall not be worn or taken into any area where raw and packaging materials, work-in-progress, or food sector packaging is exposed. Wearing plain bands with no stones and medical alert bracelets that cannot be removed can be permitted; however, the site will need to consider their customer requirements and the applicable food legislation.
All exceptions shall meet regulatory and customer requirements and shall be subject to a risk assessment and evidence of ongoing risk management.
We are a paperboard manufacturer and the previous Quality Director had a requirement of long pants being worn. Supposedly, back in the day, the employees wore shorts and when the company became SQF this was updated but I'm failing to see where this is called out in the code, specifically. Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated!