Tuesday 18 September 2012

Contamination on Footwear in the Bottling Plant

Apart from airborne infiltration, the second most common entry of microorganisms into your bottling plant, or cooler servicing room, is on the soles of boots or shoes.  This is particularly the case when the bottling plant is located on farm land.

Our colleagues in the food industry solve this problem by allowing only rubber boots as footwear and creating a foot-dip area at the entrance to the plant, or to use plastic overshoes which are discarded after use.

We all know that in the bottling plant these facilities often are not available and therefore it is essential to keep the floor as clean as possible during the shift.  Entry into the bottling plant or cooler servicing room should be restricted to essential personnel and preferably the plant should be sealed off to limit access.  Of course, if a bottle jam occurs this has to be rectified quickly, but an awareness of foot contamination needs to be reinforced with anyone allowed access to the plant.

Preferably use a sanitiser or terminal disinfectant that has residual properties so that the bacteria kill will continue throughout the shift.  The best ones are based on mixed disinfecting components using, for example, quaternaries and biguanides.  These will provide a powerful and long-lasting deterrent to foot-borne microorganisms.

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