Personnel Safety

In maintenance, safety is the first priority.  Please follow these simple procedures and rules to maintain a safe work environment. 

• Always conduct a safety assessment before starting any maintenance work, this is a mental review of the task at hand and any safety considerations to perform the task safely.

• Use fall protection equipment when working at heights above 6 feet.

• Follow electrical safety procedures when working with energized systems.

• Never bypass or disable safety devices on equipment. For temporary solutions, please make a plan with management to ensure no safety risk is added to operators or other staff.

• Do not operate machinery or vehicles without proper training and authorization.

• Lift heavy objects using proper techniques or seek assistance when needed.

• Keep emergency exits and fire extinguishers accessible at all times.

• Follow hazard communication (HazCom) procedures for handling chemicals and hazardous materials.

• Follow all safety policies, procedures, and guidelines.

• Wear appropriate PPE at all times when performing maintenance tasks.

• Report unsafe conditions, hazards, or near-miss incidents to a supervisor immediately.

• Properly use tools, equipment, and materials according to manufacturer specifications.

• Comply with all lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures before servicing equipment.

• Maintain a clean and organized work area to prevent accidents.

Food Safety and Quality

In maintenance, safety is the first priority. With that in mind, please understand that the safety extends from you, to co-workers, and our consumers. We are producing food, and the safety for our consumers goes hand in hand with your safety. Mistakes in maintenance can lead to foreign objects or pathogens in the food that we produce, which can lead to serious injury or even death. Just as your safety is the top priority, the safety and health of our consumers is on the top with it. As PPE and procedures are used to protect you, food safety PPE and procedures are used to protect them. 

You must follow the GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices) diligently to ensure that there is no contamination of the product. Wash your hands every time you enter production, wear hairnet and beard net, wear a clean lab coat around the open product, and keep that lab coat clean! Do not grind, drill, work with non-food grade chemicals, do not bring it to the maintenance shop, or anything else that will contaminate it. If a labcoat gets contaminated, replace it.

When performing preventative maintenance or any other maintenance project, it is essential to keep the area clean and organized, prevent any contamination and properly clean, inspect and release the area after. If the area is in a clean zone (by open product), cleanliness and clean up is even more essential.

Documentation and Communication

WhatsApp

Most of the communication utilized at SnackCo is done through WhatsApp. There are different groups utilized for different purposes.

Maintenance Needs Channel

This is where production and other non-maintenance personnel add repair tasks, or break dows which need to be accomplished. Once a task is completed, please report that in this same channel so that the requesting party knows. 

Maintenance Tasks Channel

Project or improvement related tasks are communicated here from Maintenance Management. Once a task is completed, placing a checkmark on the task is useful. 

Maintenance Reports Channel

This channel should be utilized to report your progress and completion of any task you are working on. If you have worked on PMs or projects throughout the day, use this cannel to send a summary of your day.

Clean Zone Release Channel

Anytime you work in the clean zone (open product zone), you must send a picture and report in this channel showing that you have cleaed up and prevented any contamination during your work. Quality will then inspect and release the area. 

Omniscient

In addition to the chats above, omniscient is utilized to track the work performed. Each machine has a machine page with PM needs and links for shift report. Anytime work is performed on a machine, this should be recorded in Omniscient. 

Maintenance Report

When repair or improvement is performed on a machine this should be recorded in the maintenance report. This allows us to track any repairs or problems with the machine. The protocol also acts as a checklist for food safe work around product. 

PM Scheduled

The PM schedule is used to record preventative maintenance for each machine. It will act as a checklist and log for the minimum inspection and maintenance for each machine. Smaller repairs which are needed can be repaired right away. Larger repairs are recorded in the repair log though the PM schedule. It will also include checks to ensure food safe release of the area. When greasing bearings, it is essential to use food grade grease, and to properly wipe them down after as we cannot risk any grease dripping on the product. 

Repair List

The repair list consists of findings during the PM of the machine. These should be repaired and marked as completed in this list.

Project Task List

This is a list of tasks assigned by Maintenance Management. It consists of larger tasks which also could be communicated in the whatsapp chat “Maintenance Tasks”. The tasks in this list can be assigned to a specific person or open for general maintenance based on availability. Please record updates with pictures on each task in this list. 

Hot Works

Anytime grinding or welding is done, the hot works form should be filled out. 

Lockout Tagout

Omniscient will show the procedure for locking and tagging out each individual machine. Please follow these guidelines. 

Chemicals

Any and all chemicals used in the plant must be approved and logged in Omniscient. Anytime a chemical is brought in, it is scanned to track it, and ensure it is an approved chemical. 

SDS

All SDS are available in Omniscient. You can access them by searching for the name, or scanning the barcode on the chemical container. 

New Machine Protocol

Any and all machines need to be added to the machine list in Omniscient. When adding a machine, there are specific questions to be answered. The quality group should also be involved as several of the questions are concerning food safety.