QUALITY MANAGEMENT: CLEANERS AND CLEANING

A good Quality Management System, QMS, is one that ensures that all quality parameters associated with the manufacture of products are strictly adhered to with documentary evidence. This includes but not limited to supplier audits, raw material receipt, analysis and storage, in-process checks, finished goods checks, storage/warehousing etc. Every good QMS points out the how, why, who, where, when of every of the above mentioned processes and puts specific people in charge of execution and monitoring. Did i forget the cleaning and the cleaners? Ooops! 

In a food manufacturing plant, I consider the Cleaners more important than everyone else. Yes, the plant cannot run if it is not in good mechanical order but regardless of how well mechanically maintained a plant is, it cannot run unless it meets food safety requirements in terms of cleanliness. In my 14 year career in QA I have read many blueprints for QMS but only few of these have made adequate provisions and clear cut directions on cleaners and cleaning. For me, cleaning and the Cleaners that do the cleaning are an integral part of every good QMS but most times are ignored due to oversight. Many believe that cleaning does not require any special attention and that it’s just enough to have cleaners who should know what to do. This article is aimed at correcting this erroneous impression. 

Investing in your cleaning staff simply means training them on how best to do their job. Training is important as it’s absence can be catastrophic. Let me give an example of what lack of adequate training can cause. It was observed that in a particular ICU in a certain hospital a patient dies every 7:30 am. This happened for three consecutive days and threw the hospital into panic. They knew something was wrong but couldn’t find out what. A camera was discreetly installed after the third death. The camera captured a cleaner (newly employed) who enters the ICU at exactly 7:30 am (he was told to resume work promptly), unplugs the ICU machine and inserts his phone charger then starts cleaning. He plugs back the ICU 45 minutes later after cleaning and leaves the ward. A patient died the first day he reported for duty and for the next two days. This story may be fiction but it highlights the need for adequate training. Another example. Have you ever considered it important to train cleaners on how to clean toilet flush handles, toilet door handles and wash station taps? All these places mentioned carry loads of bacteria and nobody remembers to wash them. They end up transferring the or load to already washed or clean hands. 

PLEASE DEVELOP A TRAINING PROGRAM FOR YOUR CLEANERS NOW.   

After you have done the face-to-face training you also need to follow up with on-the-job training to evaluate how what was learnt is being put into practice. This follow up evaluations ensures that what was learnt is being successfully carried out in practice and where errors are observed correction follows without harm being done. Most important, cleaners need to know what ‘clean’ is. They need to know how to assess the level of cleanliness of the facility before and after they have cleaned. To describe something as clean means you can't see dirt, smell dirt or feel dirt. To achieve this, cleaning must be thorough. Going further, they also need to know why cleaning has to be thorough: to avoid contamination. Do not ever assume that they know. Explain it to them in the way they will understand. 

I do not have to emphasize on the need to provide cleaning tools. The tools required depend on the type of cleaning to be done but basically soap, detergent, mop and mop bucket (it’s not hygienic to squeeze mop with hands), gloves, nose and mouth cover, apron/overall etc. Other areas that cleaners need training on include hand washing and personal hygiene, waste handling and disposal, Good Manufacturing Practices etc. For cleaning to be effective you have to follow up cleaners and repeat instructions to them. This is why a QA leader should have good experience in food safety. A good team of cleaners should consist of stable, dynamic, conscientious food safety people who are well trained to understand the basics of cleaning methods. You can improve the quality of cleaning staff and cleaning by doing the following 

1. Develop a cleaning manual that is thorough and encompasses cGMP and proper cleaning methods of all scenarios.  

2. Have a training g program which communicates the objectives of the cleaning manual to cleaners in simple terms. 

3. Ensure that the training program is comprehensive, effective and easy to execute. 

4. Decode how many times a year training for cleaners will take place and execute it  

5. Enjoin everyone (Plant Manager, QA/QC, Production/Maintenance personnel etc.) to have a responsibility towards maintaining cleanliness of the plant 

Having done all the above, you can also establish daily or weekly meetings before cleaning operations. During these meetings, emphasize the good work of cleaners by congratulating each of them for their support and collaboration. Remember that most employees have a difficulty to put in practice good methods learned, not because they don’t want to but because old habits are hard to change. You, as the team leader, must pay attention to details in order to find out good deeds and amplify them so that others can learn. This will encourage other cleaners to work hard so they can be praised too. Develop an appraisal system for cleaners so that those who work according to instructions are rewarded with promotion or increase in salary. This will motivate others. Lastly, train your cleaners to function as the ‘security guards’ of food safety and your job will be easier.