Are Shorts Permitted Under BRC Standards for Packaging Facilities?
Morning All,
First time posting here and would be very grateful of some advice.
We operate a site that produces packaging material for food/medical/industrial use in the form of reels of laminate plastic films.
We hold a BRC certificate A rated for packaging.
Recently there has been a lot of voice coming from the operators within the business asking for the opportunity to wear shorts over the summer months as the factory does get quite warm. Is anyone aware of any specific regulations within BRC that would stop this being acceptable? We have a laundered uniform service for our uniforms and they do offer shorts as an option.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks !
AFAIK BRCGS doesn't have any specific regulations on workwear. You can make your GMP policy based on risk. Will body hair be a potential contaminant then? Workers' safety? etc.
Many of us work in warm environments. I don't know of any that have successfully moved to allowing shorts. I
f it isn't a food safety concern, it can be a worker safety concern. Hot items, chemicals, hot equipment, sharp items, all could cut or burn an employee. The insurance rates usually aren't worth the risk, but that's only my experience.
Hard and fast no for me...
Many of us work in warm environments. I don't know of any that have successfully moved to allowing shorts. If it isn't a food safety concern, it can be a worker safety concern. Hot items, chemicals, hot equipment, sharp items, all could cut or burn an employee. The insurance rates usually aren't worth the risk, but that's only my experience.
Super agree with the bolded part. Sometimes as QA, we need to consider the worker's safety as part of the overall food safety.
We have several plants certified to BRC Packaging and supply non-food contact packaging (secondary/tertiary). Some of our sites do allow shorts while others do not. Our EHS has never voiced a concern and since it is below the waist and not primary packaging the product safety risk is low.
The risk of employees passing out from wearing pants in a hot facility is higher than anything that could happen from shorts in our plants.
We are a paperboard packaging manufacturer, SQF certified. We allow shorts but they must be hemmed, no loose strings. I am the Food Safety Manager and also the Safety Manager (CSM) and, with our machinery and processes, the JHA I have performed for all areas determined there to be no increased risk of injury as a result. This needs to be addressed from both sides and will be specifically based on your products, processes and machinery. One summer I did have an employee catch their pant leg on a nail in a pallet in the warehouse, fall and injure her knee! It could be said that we should have made her wear shorts and it wouldn't have happened! :lol2: We also don't allow the designer jeans with holes ripped in them but that's not a safety issue, it's obviously a food safety risk.
She probably would not have fallen but still would have got injured. Maybe worse, maybe not. That's why these items are risk based.