Personnel GMP Requirements

Employee Hygiene:

Maintaining high standards of personal hygiene is essential not only for food safety but also for fostering a clean working environment.

All employees are expected to arrive at work clean, well-groomed, and dressed appropriately to help maintain a sanitary and professional environment. This includes showering before coming to work to ensure personal cleanliness and to help prevent body odor in shared workspaces. Clothing worn to work should be clean and free from visible dirt, stains, pet hair, or other contaminants. Employees should inspect their clothing before entering the production area to ensure there are no loose hairs or debris present. Hair must be clean and neatly secured before putting on a hairnet. Facial hair should be well-maintained, and beard nets must be worn properly as required. Strongly scented products such as perfume, cologne, aftershave, or scented lotions must not be worn, as they can interfere with food safety standards. Maintaining good personal hygiene is a shared responsibility and a critical part of protecting the safety and integrity of the products we manufacture.

Hands and arms must be kept clean, including under your fingernails. Employees must always wash their hands with soap and water before going into production. This applies before the shift, after lunch, after breaks, after using the restroom, after a change of responsibility, or when your hands become soiled. Please wash both hands and arms up to where the shirt sleeve starts every time you enter production.

After using the restroom your hands must be washed both in the restroom and at the hand sink by the time clock before entering production.

PPE

Personal Protective Equipment is required to protect you and the products.

Everyone are required to have slip resistant shoes as the floor can be very slick with oil. A protective toe is also required for most positions as heavy items can fall on your feet. When handling slicer knives or other sharp objects, cut resistant gloves are also required. In addition, maintenance or anyone handling power tools are required to wear eye protection and safety gloves 

Food Safety PPE

It is just as important to protect the product for the safety of our consumers who will eat our products. This includes:

Hairnets must be worn to cover all head hair long enough to pull on. If needed, the hairnet should be worn over the ears to assist in covering all hair. If a beanie or hat is being worn, a hairnet must still be worn over the beanie/hat and all hair. 

Beard net must be worn if you have facial hair that is long enough to pull on. The beard net must be worn to cover all facial hair in clean zones. Outside of clean zones, you may pull the top part of the beard net below your lower lip, resting on the top of your chin

Lab Coat is required when working in the production zone and clean zone, this protects our products from contaminates on your clothing. This includes anywhere in the process before the bags are sealed. The lab coat must be removed before going outside, to the bathrooms, or breakroom. It should also be removed before entering any other area that can contaminate it such as maintenance. Keep your lab coat clean and replace it if it gets contaminated. When not in use, the coat should hang on designated hangers or hooks and never place the lab coat on the floor, toolboxes or other locations. Work clothing is never to be stored with personal clothing.

Do not use the same lab coat for an allergen product as a non-allergen product. Change lab coat after finishing allergen cleaning.

Glove Policy:

When handling unpacked products, disposable gloves must be worn. These must be changed when contaminated and at least every 20 minutes. Without clean gloves, you cannot handle un-packed products. A single chip can be grabbed without gloves as long as no other chips are touched. 

Bandages:

Wounds shall be covered with blue, metal-detectable bandages. They must be placed over any wounds to prevent any blood or fluids from contaminating the products. Where appropriate, a glove shall be worn over the bandage. Anywhere you think you might come into food contact.

Smoking and Tobacco:

Smoking is only allowed in designated areas; that area needs to be kept clean and well-maintained. Uniform Shirts can never be worn during this activity. 

Eating:

Food other than what is being produced is not permitted into the production zone. Chewing gum is not allowed in the production Zone. Lunch should be eaten in the employee break room or outside. Food brought to work by employees must be stored in the break room. Water, Gatorade, and PowerAde are permitted in the production zone with a clear plastic container and lid. They cannot be brought into the Clean Zone. Nuts of any kind are not allowed on the factory part of the premises due to the risk of contamination.

Personal Belongings:

Jewelry, watches, rings, and studs in/on exposed body parts shall not be worn in production except for a single smooth ring on a finger or medical bracelet. Personal belongings shall be stored in your personal locker or in ones personal vehicle. Personal belongings include but are not limited to personal cell phones, jewelry, watches, medication, etc. Items that would attract pests, such as food, shall not be stored in or on top of lockers. Personal cell phones are not allowed to be used in production.

If an employee needs to take medication during the shift, they must go into the break room to do so. The company does not accept any responsibility for any personal belongings brought to the premises, including tools.

For food safety reasons, headphones are only permitted in production if they have no loose parts and are fully covered by the hairnet to prevent them from falling out. For personnel safety reasons, hearing impairment is not allowed. This means that in-ear headphones may only be worn in one ear, must be a single solid piece, and cannot have detachable plugs.

It is recommended to use bone-conduction open-ear headphones, as they maintain situational awareness and are more securely worn. Company-provided and controlled speakers may also be used for music.

Sharps/Glass/ Shatterable:

Do not bring any sharp/glass/shatterable objects into the production area; any knives must be assigned by management. Any type of a snap blade knife is forbidden.

Personal Belongings and Consumption

Perfume and Aftershave etc…:

Scented products should not be used in production. 

Cosmetic enhancements:

Fingernails shall be kept short, clean, and unvarnished. False fingernails, nail art, or non-permanent eyelash extensions are not permitted in production. 

Personal Medication:

No personal medicine is allowed on the production floor. Store your medication in your personal lockers with your personal belongings. Medication and personal cosmetic products such a lotion, cannot be stored in toolboxes or other portable enclosures.