What to do when people do not follow the personal hygiene regulations
Hello everyone,
I would like to ask how to deal with the situation when the employee (not production) such as office work based employee don't follow the personal hygiene regulation when going to the production (wearing a protective clothing, hairnet, shoes over) because it is inconvenient for them. As they just quickly go to the production and out.
Please know that our production is low-risk and the product is sold to other business to manufacture their products.
My question is how should I fix this? as it causes the risk of contamination..
Thank you everyone in advance. It would be nice to know your experience if you face a similar situation?
I have seen this sort of thing before. it requires "buy-in" from management to enforce the standards. Post signage, report non-conformities, provide training, provide retraining, enforce disciplinary action. Get management onboard by outlining the safety issues and the regulatory costs for non-compliance. When they see how much money could potentially be lost then they will get on board with enforcing the policy more. Also, I find it is easier if the hygiene gear is located directly at entry points so a person is required to walk by it to get into production. Hope this helps.
Cheers!
Change the shoes every time going to production is tiresome, really: why don't you install foot baths at the production entrance? Second - protective clothing (e.g. lab coats) could be available at the entrance as well for office personnel convenience, as well as hairnets. This way, it would save aggravation...
This is not acceptable. This is in the nature of their work when working for the food industry - it does not matter that it is "inconvenient" for them. I'm sure this also does not go over well with employees that do follow the rules.
I agree with Brendan - you need the plant manager and human resources to get involved. If you become relaxed and have exceptions to policies, then others will think they can do the same. If they enter, their germs enter, end of discussion. You are trying to promote food safety culture, that person would cause a non-conformance on an audit, introducing hazards by not wearing their GMP items, and poor morale on the production floor.
I hope you will be able to get more people to support you and correct this before it gets out of control.
Train and enforce
As mentioned, the company has to buy in to this as a MUST DO otherwise you'll be fighting this until the end of time
Ensure that you loudly escort them off the production floor and tell them they can return when the follow the rules
Having said all of that-----what is the root cause----do the office employees need something that could be brought to them instead thus limiting their time on the floor?
This whole thing sounds like a culture issue. Culture is tough to change, especially when food safety has not been a priority and is suddenly a new thing with a lot of rules. It needs consistency, discipline, and positive reinforcement to get buy-in from the staff. I cant stress the consistency and positive reinforcement enough.
Cheers!
How easy is it for staff to comply with these rules? It's annoying, but if the PPE needed to follow the rules is located far away from the production floor, people are less inclined to follow the rules. I would make sure that all the gear they need are in super easy to access locations near the floor so they have no excuse not to follow rules. From there the positive reinforcement is important; if you see someone doing the right thing remember to thank them.
Do you hold any GMP meetings with the staff? Every month I hold a GMP huddle with all the staff to reiterate the importance of these GMP basics. It can be a good time to recognize that the rules can feel "inconvenient", but walk them through why they're necessary. Would they want to eat food made by strangers who wear their street clothes in the production room? Although the office staff are simply "passing through" the production floor, if they're unprotected they're still at a much higher risk of contaminating product. Even though their travel through the room is brief, the product in the room at the time is still intended to be consumed by someone. Would they want to be that someone?
Train and enforce
As mentioned, the company has to buy in to this as a MUST DO otherwise you'll be fighting this until the end of time
Ensure that you loudly escort them off the production floor and tell them they can return when the follow the rules
Having said all of that-----what is the root cause----do the office employees need something that could be brought to them instead thus limiting their time on the floor?
I'm always hesitant about the "can it be brought to them" mindset. This can also cause resentment regarding people from production needing to deliver to the office because they won't follow the rules. Production is there to produce not run errands for the office.
They should be given a verbal reprimand and more training.
Where I work, the level of PPE gear depends and what you'll be doing. If you're working on the floor, you need ALL PPE gear. If you're going to retrieve paperwork or talk t someone, you need a minimum of boots, smock and cap. Most will skip the scrub pants for a quick trip, and that is optional. Since the cap covers your head, you can forego the hairnet. Since you're not working on product, you won't need an apron, sleeves & gloves. We have foot baths at all entrances and you don't want to step in them without boots.
When awarness, training and food safety culture doesn't working, I think it's necessary to enforce disciplinary action