Baking&Snack - June 2014 - 103

SANITATION STRATEGIES
Joe Stout
joe.stout@cf-san.com

Get 'Smart'
about Sanitation

All functions in a business serve a defined purpose and
contribute to the success of that business. Cleaning and
sanitation, although low profile, are fundamental to ensure the "safe food requirement" expected as the cost of
entry to the food industry today.
Some view sanitation as an expense item, a significant
production obstacle, and they are correct. As food sanitation tasks are executed, the food plant is not manufacturing product to sell, and the sanitation process takes
considerable time to do right. This process should be
viewed as an essential ingredient to a successful product
- the same as oil in salad dressing or cheese in pizza.
It is important downtime because it generates the security critical to ensuring safe products, happy customers and content consumers. This makes food sanitation
a vital investment that offers necessary benefits. Like
any investment, it needs to be managed to be successful.
Sanitation, if done smartly, is critical to success.
In most food plants where sanitation is executed either through a dedicated internal team or an external
contractor, "cleaning up" is viewed as an employee function, especially the last few hours of production, when
good housekeeping tends to fall to the wayside. The result is the sanitation team spends precious time doing
housekeeping-like activities before it can actually start
the critical cleaning processes and infrastructure cleaning. This situation should be viewed as an opportunity.
Smart Sanitation - a name that describes a crossfunctional team sport where all members participate
for victory - looks beyond functional barriers. This approach encourages all plant employees and the sanitation team to communicate and work together prior to,
during and after sanitation.
Let's be real - if you are in the food business, you are
in the sanitation business. If you think differently, you
may want to explore other career options.
With Smart Sanitation, everyone owns it. Production
management and line operators understand the importance of good housekeeping, safe food production and
spaces that are maintained at the highest standards at
all times, including cleaning up or primping when they
have a down period or as part of their work activity.

Adopt the right approach
for good communication
and teamwork to make
cleaning more effectively
support food safety.

Production operators can work with the sanitation team by assisting in preparing their work areas to
be cleaned as they bring their production processes to
a close. They run their systems empty, assist in flushing systems if necessary and put away unused ingredients, packaging supplies, re-work, recycling and waste
materials.
The sanitation team should now be set for action.
That means being prepared prior to arriving on the line
with all tools ready, organized and in working order.
Effective sanitation includes a preventive maintenance
program to ensure that tools are always clean and in
working order and won't contribute to contamination of
food-contact equipment or the environment.
Tools can include safety gear, water hoses, chemical
foamers, brushes, scrappers, vacuums, broom, mops
and chemicals. All these items need to be prepared and
ready to take to the line before the line is shut down.
Smart Sanitation programs also include procedures and
training programs that describe what tools are needed
and how they are to be used and maintained.
When the process is supported by good practices via
Smart Sanitation, and the team is set up for proper execution, it can then focus on the value-added aspects of
food safety. Eliminating delays helps the sanitation team
support strong startups of the production process.
Communication between line operators and the sanitation team is crucial to effective, efficient sanitation and
production. Both groups should be well-versed about
the equipment they use. They need to communicate
when there are potential operational issues that could
impact how the equipment runs or how it is cleaned.
This creates a win-win working environment for all.
Non-sanitation employees play a key role in ensuring
the cleaning process is flawless, effective and efficient;
in turn, the sanitation team makes sure that processes
and lines start up efficiently with no sanitation-related
issues. When people work together, they will more likely
succeed. The team approach provides a vehicle to drive
business success through an effective and efficient cleaning process. This will promote safe food in a facility that
looks great. Smart Sanitation is also smart business.

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