Environmental Health Assessment: Fish Processing Plant case study

The client had no previous experience with processing raw foods, so needed comprehensive guidance prior to a scheduled environmental health assessment to allow him to open and begin trading.

After finding out about his vision and what he wanted to achieve from our meeting, I firstly began with the PPE requirements needed on site to ensure that contaminants from outside weren’t being brought in to the factory. I provided mob caps which are food safe and comfortable to wear, overshoes were also delivered, as shoe protection. Waterproof aprons completed the ensemble. Finally, we provided nitrile gloves as hand protection. Nitrile gloves, unlike Latex or Vinyl Gloves are unlikely to catalyse an allergic reaction, so I usually select this type versus the other available glove types. Blue Nitrile Gloves are standard, but we also stock black, which are thicker and provide more protection/warmth, or orange which are thicker again.

We then moved on to chemicals. As this was a start- up, and the associated costs in getting the plant ready for operation were significant, I went in as frugally as possible, providing the client exactly what he needed to pass the inspection and trade safely, but also with no frills or bells and whistles. Due to this parameter, we decided to opt for ready to use chemical sanitisers, rather than super concentrates. The logic behind this decision was purely immediate cost. The ready to use, Cleaner Sanitiser, comes in both 5ltr (£7.80) or 750ml (£2.50) – prices correct at the time of writing – so to get this client up and running we agreed we’d go with this cleaner sanitiser rather than a super concentrate.

The super concentrates, do have their benefits, working out significantly less per trigger, however the initial outlay is a little more significant. The Jeyes Cleaner and Sanitiser Superconcentrate makes 400 triggers, and comes with a wall mounted dispenser, so in terms of cost in use, this case of chemicals comes in at £101.87, for 400 triggers, so it’s significantly cheaper per trigger. There are caveats in using this superconcentrated chemical, the triggers are only tested to be effective for two weeks following being made up – so it needs to be used in a high- volume environment.

In this instance, due to the high cost of set up, we decided to go for RTU (ready to use) however there is scope to move this client on to the super concentrated chemicals in the future.

The Cleaner Sanitiser we selected, kills 99.999% (BS EN 1276) and is non food tainting (BS EN 13697), and kills in 30 seconds, so is practical in application. This client wanted to be really ready for the inspection, so we also put in an alcohol sanitising spray, this is an ideal chemical for misting over the food services at the end of the day and this is accredited to BS EN 1276 (bacteria kill); BS EN 13697 (non- tainting food surfaces), but also BS EN 14476 (viral kill; including enveloped viruses). This is a great product for food preparation areas; as it absolutely removes risk when misted over every surface. As this product is alcohol, it evaporates leaving no tainting.

We then embedded Seldet Bactericidal into the solution, this is part of a two stage process in cleaning and sanitising dishes (where the presence of a dishwasher is omitted). We also put 10% detergent in place.

The process for washing is detailed in my earlier blog, however to summarise, you would actually wash your dishes with 10% detergent, and then dilute your seldet appropriately (I do encourage you to read my earlier blog on this as it is easy to get this wrong, and there are a couple of hacks in there to help you out!). Drop your dishes in the diluted seldet, and leave them there for a full 5 minutes. Pull them out and let them air dry – do not rub them with a towel of any kind!

We put paper and dispensers in place, including blue centrefeed in dispensers, z-fold handtowels in dispensers above all the sinks, antimicrobial soaps in dispensers (again above sinks), and an alcohol hand sanitiser on entry and exit to the plant.

Finally, we put colour coded mops, cloths, handles, brushes, dustpan and brushes, & sponge scourers to complete the solution.
This customer decided not to go for the COSHH training just now, but will look to schedule it in the near future.

This client passed their environmental health assessment. They passed because they took my advice, and they put the right things in the right places.

This client also benefited from my blogs, which are always there, to help and assist you to understand what it is we can do for you. They are there as an education tool, so please do use them. If you have a similar situation, and need a little help please do give us a call.