BRCGS - Food Safety Clause 4.6.6 - Draft version 9

Hello all,
Today I have read the draft version 9 of the BRCGS standard and have stumbled among other things over point 4.6.6. This point is about the disinfection of vehicles when entering production areas.

Quote from the draft:

Mobile equipment (e.g. fork-lift trucks, pallet trucks, scissor lifts and ladders) used in
open product areas shall not pose a risk to the product.
Where the use of mobile equipment in external areas cannot be avoided, the equipment
shall be cleaned and disinfected prior to entering production areas.

What is your current solution and experience here? Will this point refer mainly to tires, which are the direct contact with the ground and germs and bacteria, or rather to the disinfection of entire vehicles?

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and recommendations!

Regards,

Mo

We have SOP's and cleaning schedules for any trucks that enter production, and I swab them randomly as a zone 2 (of 4), including tires, wheels, underneath the machine, steering wheel, etc.

In the event that we have to send one outside, on the way back in it is driven over a granular sanitizer (though sometimes this can get slippery, depending on your floor type, temperature and humidity), the equipment goes on hold and it is swabbed (wheels, touch points, forks, rails, foot wells (if applicable), and outer surface; before and after the sanitation SOP is conducted. It's only released then back into production after satisfactory results (and yes, this means it can't be used, and production/shipping usually hate this; so it's a good incentive for them to plan ahead, or not bring the equipment outside). 

I would suggest that you not only consider the wheels, but a more wholistic view of the mobile equipment; keeping in mind where it goes, what kind of animals are flying overhead (and possibly defecating), and what the mobile equipment has been used for.