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Making the right furniture choices

06 June 2022

Sue Springett offers some advice for purchasing hygienic furniture for use in a food production environment. 

Left unchecked, microbes have the capacity to multiply and spread at a dangerous rate.  However food production spaces are controlled using robust standard operating procedures (SOPs) for cleaning, maintaining a hygienic environment is an ongoing challenge.

While production efficiency has to be a priority, without a robust hygienic culture penetrating the entire business, it can take only one FSA alert to bring a factory to its knees.

Purchasing the right hygienic furniture is a significant investment so it is vital to get it right.  By gaining the input of all relevant stakeholders, including production, technical, health & safety, and cleaning teams, those responsible for purchasing can fully advise the risks and rewards of every option.  The ultimate aim is to ensure that every piece of equipment purchased will effectively do its job. 

It is vital to select kit that is ‘perfect for purpose’ and by that I mean purposely researched, designed and manufactured for the job in hand.  For example, if you are sourcing a computer console for a production environment, has it been designed to prevent water ingress when washed down?

When purchasing a piece of furniture, whether one which has multiple uses, such as bench,  or a unique product designed for a very specific purpose, be clear on what the use case is and never compromise.

Cleanability
It goes without saying that to achieve profitability production lines need minimum interruptions.  And that means cleaning needs to be carried out to the right standard and ideally  delivered faster than the time limit set. 

‘Food grade furniture’ can be an easy phrase to use, but what does it actually mean?  It should mean that is easy to clean, that it can withstand the chemicals utilised within the cleaning process without suffering corrosion, and that the risk of bacteria growth is minimised.

The preferred material of construction is 304 grade stainless steel as it is resilient enough to be cleaned using high pressure processes and is less prone to corrosion. By spending less on furniture at the outset, it is likely to cost more in the medium term, as poor-quality furniture will corrode when subjected to regular chemical cleaning which then causes a risk to hygiene standards.

Furniture can be manufactured with dirt harbourage points – such as unnecessary ledges (usually hidden from human view), poor welds, and hidden corners – which will inevitably be more time consuming to clean.  And if food particles are allowed to lurk, microbes can have a field day: spreading at an exponential rate and putting your hygienic environment at risk. 

As such, the mantra at the furniture procurement stage should be: if it looks easy to clean from every angle, it is easy to clean.

Flexibility
If furniture is easy to move it will be easier to clean around and under it, ensuring that the cleaning is a straightforward matter and doesn’t cause unnecessary delays to production.

You may find that some furniture is only needed for part of the year or for specific contracts.  So consider storing those items when not in use and then cleaning down in preparation for their return to the factory floor.  Depending on the number of weeks active / inactive, this can save many hours of cleaning time on the unused items.

There is danger of superficial ignorance when it comes to hygiene and cleaning.  When we tell a potential customer that a more expensive piece of equipment, which has been designed to be as risk free as possible, could save them 10 minutes a day on cleaning, some will not see the value in that additional investment.   But consider 60 hours saved over the course of a year:  that is time that could be used for additional production.  All these small savings will add up to huge business benefits.

Sue Springett is commercial manager at Teknomek.  


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