SANITATION
items are used, the repair should truly
be;temporary,;that;is,;less;that;a;24-hour
fix,;and;preferably;only;one;shift.;The;fix
should;be;dated;and;be;properly;repaired
as;soon;as;possible.;Of;course,;the;best
Outline for Effective
Preventive Maintenance
SUBJECT: PREVENTIVE
MAINTENANCE: General Procedure
OBJECTIVE: To develop, document,
implement and maintain a preventive
maintenance program that ensures
safe and sanitary operation of all
equipment essential for maintaining
quality and safety of products. This
program may also be used to monitor operational efficiencies and to
evaluate machine performance that
may be used for future equipment
purchases.
PROCEDURE: This plant shall
develop, document, implement and
maintain a preventive maintenance
program for all equipment used to
ensure quality and safety of foods
or ingredients or which may affect
product safety, quality or integrity.
The preventive maintenance program
shall include the following elements
at a minimum:
•;Master;list;of;all;equipment
requiring maintenance
•;Maintenance;schedules;for;all
equipment
•;Documented;procedures;for
maintaining equipment
•;Record-keeping;procedures;for;all
maintenance, including emergen-
cy maintenance and repairs, on all
equipment
•;Reconciliation;program;for;tools
•;Lubrication;programs;for;all;equip-
ment, including type of lubricant,
lubricant schedule, amount of
lubricant applied and records that
the lubrication program has been
followed
•;Procedures;for;handing;over
equipment to production fol-
lowing preventive or emergency
maintenance
•;Spare;parts;inventory;and
maintenance
RESPONSIBILITY: Owner
course is not to use any of these items
and;simply;fix;the;problem;immediately.
The;maintenance;program;should
also;include;spare;parts.;All;processors
need to maintain a spare parts inventory
to;keep;the;plant;running;smoothly.
However,;it;is;impossible;to;keep;a
backup;for;every;single;unit;in;a;plant.
There;are;cost,;space;and;management
issues.;This;is;another;situation;where
risk;assessment;can;be;used;effectively.
Processors;need;to;understand;the;poten-tial;risks;of;being;down;because;of;a;part
or;equipment;failure.;For;example,;is;it
worth maintaining a unit with a tempo-rary;fix;if;the;instrument;or;part;can;be
delivered;within;a;few;hours?
Processors;should;also;establish;a
hand-over;procedure.;Whenever;repairs
are made, quality should look over the
unit in question to ensure that it is clean,
the;work;has;been;done;properly;and;the
unit;is;ready;to;go.;Quality;must;then
sign off on the repairs prior to restarting
production;operations.
To;ensure;everything;is;done;prop-erly, everyone involved in the program
needs;to;be;trained;on;procedures.
Training;should;be;based;on;established
protocols;and;fully;documented.
Finally,;the;company;needs;to;estab-lish internal audit protocols to verify
that;each;of;the;procedures;is;being;done
properly;and;is;documented.
Maintenance Records
Preventive;maintenance;records;can
be;maintained;as;hard;copies;or;electron-ic;records.;Small-to-medium;operators
generally;maintain;hard-copy;records.
Possibly;the;greatest;challenge;with
these kinds of records is tracking when
things;are;to;be;done.;There;is;simply;a
greater;probability;that;something;will
slip;through;the;cracks.;What;more;and
more companies are doing is adopting
electronic maintenance management sys-tems.;These;can;be;developed;in-house
using;programs;such;as;Excel;or;Access,
(continued on page 64)
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