Offline! Intrusive Maintenance Policy Components

One of the leading causes of downtime in any factory is equipment repair. Unfortunately, when food production equipment needs to be shutdown or taken offline for these intrusive maintenance repairs, the possibility of potential contamination issues increases. One way to combat the likelihood of food safety issues related to maintenance activities is to have an Intrusive Maintenance Policy for your maintenance personnel to follow. When developing an Intrusive Maintenance Policy for your plant, consider including these suggested components.

1. Definition

• Intrusive maintenance is any scheduled or unscheduled maintenance activity that happens on a food contact surface or in a product zone.

2. Purpose

• To ensure that maintenance activities do not pose a risk to product.

3. Five Stages of Intrusive Maintenance

• Prepare the area. Examples may include: stop the line, provide for a barrier between overhead where maintenance takes place and food contact surface, etc.
• Conduct the maintenance.
• Ensure maintenance personnel account for all parts and tools. Maintenance personnel must also remove any gross debris (metal shavings, excess lubrication, etc.)
• Clean and sanitize food contact surfaces. This should be done by a person who is trained to do so, such as a person from the maintenance, sanitation, or production departments.
• Inspect and release the area back into production by someone OTHER than the person who did the cleaning and sanitation. This is often done by production or QA.

4. Records

• For scheduled maintenance (preventive maintenance), the maintenance activity, parts and tools accountability, and removal of gross debris should be documented on the work order. The cleaning and sanitizing is likely documented on the master sanitation schedule, and the inspection is documented as part of the routine pre-operational inspection.
• For unscheduled maintenance (breakdowns), a unique form is typically established. It is often printed on red paperboard and hung on the equipment as a sign that the equipment is out of use. It's known as the "Red Tag Program." The form has three components:
  
  
  • MAINTENANCE: Activity completed, parts and tools accountability, and removal of gross debris, including sign-off by person responsible.
  • SANITATION: Sign-off of cleaning and sanitizing.
  • INSPECTION: Sign-off of inspection and release; documented corrective action for any noted deficiencies.

Another option for unscheduled maintenance is to use an existing breakdown log and add four extra columns:

1. Was this work in a product zone? (Sign Yes or No. If No, the remaining columns do not need to be completed.)
2. Parts and tools accounted for? (Signature/Initials of person who did this)
3. Equipment cleaned and sanitized? (Signature/Initials of person who did this)
4. Area inspected and released? (Signature/Initials of person who did this)

The author is Director of Food Safety Education, AIB International.