38
APR2017
FOOD FOCUSTHAILAND
SPECIAL
FOCUS
One of themost common causes of contamination in the product is the employees themselveswho are close or
evencontact theproductduringproduction.Evenwithcontrolmeasures,hairandbacteriacontaminationcommonly
occur inexceeding standard levels. So, the supervision of thepersonal hygiene is anuncompromising factor.
What procedureswe shoulduse to handle the employees:
1. Employees andDiseases
Onesmust understand that the workers can get sick from time
to time, whether diarrhea, fever, cough, sore throat or evenwound
up. All these sicknesses can affect the food safety inevitably. Food
hygienemeasures, therefore, need tobe taken as follows.
• Monitoring new coming employees for congenital disease or
any serious diseases that affects theproduct. If they arediagnosed
with the diseases or contagious diseases, theymay be denied the
employment.
• Practices undertaking when the employees get sick such as
suspension or move to the areas not involved the production. For
instance, theworkerwithchickenpoxshouldbe restricted to resume
dutiesbecause thegermscouldbe transmitted. Thediseaseseems
not affect the product, but in a sense of the outbreak, this
measure prevents spreadingout of the disease.
• Undergoing annual health checkup to see
tendency of illness and personal health, as well
as themonitoringplan toobserveof thepossibility
that somediseasesor symptomsmaybecaused
from improperoperationorproductionprocesses.
For example, pulmonary disease is unusually
foundamongemployees, itcouldbea result
ofan increaseofvolatileorsmokehigher
thannormal rate.
•Providingfirst-aid roomorfirst-aid
kit aswell as controlling theuseof the
medicine systemically. Seeing that in
some cases, the workers are allowed
tobring themedicine into theproduction
area, suchaseyedropswhichcouldbe
contaminated to the product if used
carelessly.
• The employees must have clean
hands without open wounds. Any cuts or
scrapesmustbecoveredwithabandageand
wornover with rubber gloves.
2. Cleaning Hands before Entering
theProductionAreas
•Equippedsinks that canwash theworkers’
handswithout touching the faucet, togetherwith
liquidhand soapdispensers (Hand free).
• Supplying warm water at a required
temperature, not too hot.
• Posting a sign showing hand washing
steps.
•Providinghygiene liquidhandsoap,not
asoapbar,mixed inaproportionaccording
to the instruction. An incorrect mixture or
dilute of the liquid soap, the disease,
PersonalHygiene
&FoodSafety
especially
Pseudomonas
, may occur in the soap itself.
• Providingwith alcohol spray for hand sanitizing.
• Facilitatingwith a paper towel to dry hands.
• Supplying sufficient wastedisposals.
3.WorkAttire
• Hairnets, all hairmust be completely coverednot to comeout
of the net.
• Shoes, only wear properly shoes arranging for the area and
do not take them out.
• Masks, toprotect germs in themouth (if any) and toblock out
the slipped beard.
• Prepare accordingly a set of clothes before entering the
production line.
• Do not bring clothes out of the food premises.
• Differentiateclothesset of employeesandvisitors, so theywill
beeasy to supervise.
• All uniformsmust be cleaned and are in good condition. The
clothesused fordirtyzonesandothersshouldbewashedseparately.
• Glovesmustbeasingle-use (disposable)anddifferent incolor
to theproducts in order to notice easilywhen it is loose or torn.
4. Employees
• Do not wear any jewelry in the processing areas. Fingernails
must be short as they can be harboring germs.
• Provide employees with an adequate number of personal
lockers, keep them clean and not to be a place for pathogens and
pests to pileup.
• Snacks, beveragesaswell as smoking in theproductionarea
areprohibited.Facilitatingproperareas for thoseactivitiesaway from
food handling sections.
• Arrange an annual training plan on the HACCP and other
systems to raise awareness about food safety.
• Evaluateresultsof the trainingandknowledgeof theemployees.
All of theabove is theprocedure that all employeesareexpected
to implement. Sincerely devoted and the willingness will reduce
contamination from foreignobjectsandgermsmoreeffectively.Food
products distributing into themarket will be safeas needed.
Besides,outergarmentsof theemployeesalsoaffect foodsafety.
The labor intensive industry such as large-scale food factory often
hasastandard requirement of uniforms towear in themanufacturing
processareas.Employeesarenot allowed tobring theuniformback
or to wash it themselves at home subject to improper laundry or
uncontrolledcross-contaminations.Thewashingprocess in the food
industry, therefore, becomesagreat concern.However, this issue is
less priority and often neglect.
Theproblemsusually foundon themanufacturing’s
uniforms
1. Clothing becomes dull and fade after using for a while. For
example, the fabricwould look old after 4-6months of usage.
2. Clothes using inmany factories, especially the one involving
emulsified fat-basedmeat processing suchas pork, chickenand so
on, usually smell musty or rancid.
