The goal of any good sanitation plan is to minimize cross-contamination through better hygiene and cleaning practices. But—what happens when workers can’t reach that tall ceiling fixture or get a brush to follow the curves of a spiraling pipe? If employees don’t have the right tools for the job, they’ll improvise sub-par solutions, or—perhaps even worse—they'll skip cleaning that area.
Here are some examples of specialty tools that solve common cleaning problems in food processing plants:
High walls
Standard handles just aren’t going to reach all the way up a factory’s walls. Use a telescopic handle with a tank brush head to clean walls top-to-bottom. The tank brush head works at any angle, making it a great choice for high walls or deep vats. Because the handles will need to be adjusted many times, they should be easy to extend and shorten. Ideally, they should also be hollow to minimize weight for worker comfort and to make the handles easier to control at longer lengths.
Ceiling and pipe condensation
Vikan experts have reported seeing everything from a sock on a handle to a broom being used to remove condensation in the field. But—cleaning condensation is vital to food safety and requires its own tool.
Condensation dripping into food or processing equipment can lead to microbial cross-contamination and a costly recall. Use a condensation squeegee to prevent drops from forming and falling into products. A condensation squeegee catches and drains water into either tubing or bottles to keep food products safe.
Large tanks
Specially designed tank brushes have curved heads to reach every angle. When combined with an easy-to-use telescopic handle, workers can reach to clean the tops, sides, and bottoms of tanks, all without having to pull out a cumbersome ladder.
Long pipes
Pipe brushes need to be the right diameter to reach the interior walls, but they also have to be the right length to reach through the pipe, or debris will build up just out of reach. Vikan offers pipe brushes on stainless steel handles that can be lengthened again and again with 30-inch extenders to reach through the longest pipes.
Curved or helical pipes
Stainless steel handles are flexible, but only to a degree. For truly helical pipes, a nylon handle will follow all of its curves while being strong enough to get the pipe walls clean. Nylon is FDA-approved for food contact and can follow through even the most spiraling pipes.
Overhead pipes
Condensation isn’t the only worry when it comes to overhead pipes. These surfaces are often repositories for dirt and contaminants since workers have a hard time cleaning around and over them. Use an overhead adjustable neck brush to get them clean. The brush should have a flexible head to reach over and on the side of pipes. An adjustable neck will allow workers to reach pipes at any angle. Combined with a telescopic handle, an overhead brush is especially useful for reaching high pipes.
Cross-contamination and allergen cross-contact can both be prevented by better hygiene practices. When you’re able to fully clean your facility, you’re able to control the spread of contaminants. These tools can help solve your common cleaning problems.
