Lesson 8 - Materials of Construction End of Unit SAQ

***Your plant manager has just told you that hygienic design is expensive and cannot be justified. What reasons would you give to show that the statement is not valid?

Response:

Certain aspects of hygienic design are required in order to adhere to legislation. As such, these aspects are not a choice. Thus, in these cases, no cheaper alternative can be considered.

Other aspects of hygienic design may be required for certain certifications. If the business is committed to obtaining these certifications, then it is required.

The remaining aspects of hygienic design would be adherence to guidelines and principles, and these could be debated further.

Bearing this in mind, the following considerations are also important:

• Hygienic design can demand a higher grade of material.

  • With metals, this is often required because of corrosion requirements, which means that hygienic design places a negligible burden on cost.

  • When considering polymers, many types are not automatically food grade, and in order to adhere to legislation food grade certified materials are required.

  • Furthermore, hygienic design requires that materials should not degrade or be replaced before degradation takes place. This degradation can also lead to breakdowns and potential leaks; thus, either specifying the right durable material or replacing the items at the recommended frequency will be beneficial.

• Hygienic design requires equipment to adhere to hygienic guidelines.

  • Equipment that is hygienic is easier to clean and will result in less cleaning time, water and chemical usage.

  • Hygienic design also guards against physical contamination. Contamination can destroy product.

  • If cleaning is inefficient, then microbiological contamination can occur.

  • Welding that meets hygienic guidelines will also ensure that corrosion risk is minimised.

Hygienic design provides operational benefits in terms of both maintenance and cleaning costs. This can improve plant production time.

The costs of potential contaminations need to be factored in, and any incident where product needs to either be reworked, destroyed or recalled will have costs associated with it.