Cleaning Small-Scale Dairy Plants: Dressing for the Job

- [Narrator] Cleaning dairy processing plants involves using hazardous chemicals.

Wearing the right clothes and personal protective equipment or PPE is important for worker safety.

This video is designed for small scale dairy processors, where employees have multiple roles, including being the sanitation crew.

Let's meet Eva, the cheese maker.

She started the day dressed for processing.

She's wearing clean clothes and a clean lab coat, shoes worn only for working inside the plant, and her hair net properly covers all of her hair, but when it's time to clean, Eva needs more PPE to protect her against exposure to cleaning chemicals.

The choice of PPE depends on the type of cleaning and the chemicals used.

Let's start at the bottom and work our way up.

Eva shoes are designed for working in a processing environment, but cleaning is a wet business.

Boots will keep her feet dry and provide protection against any cleaning solutions that get on her feet.

These boots are resistant to caustic and acid cleaners and have a steel toe and a non-slip sole.

Pants should always cover boots and never be tucked inside of them.

This way, if water or cleaning solutions run down her pant leg, they will flow over her boots and not inside.

A boot full of water is difficult to remove.

And this would be a dangerous situation if her boot were filled with hot caustic or acid solutions.

Next comes body protection.

This apron is resistant to caustic and acid to protect against chemical burns.

Make sure the apron covers the body and legs and is tied tightly.

If the apron becomes untied during cleaning, it can be a distraction and a tripping hazard.

Next is face and eye protection.

Eye protection should be made of durable materials and have side shields to prevent splashing into the eyes.

There are many styles of safety glasses and goggles, and Eva chooses a pair that fits comfortably.

Regular eyeglasses are not suitable for working with cleaning chemicals, but prescription safety glasses with side shields can be ordered.

A face shield is good to wear when handling concentrated chemicals, because it protects your face in case of splashing.

Use a face shield that is rated for working with chemicals, not one for medical purposes.

This ensures that if you do get splashed, the chemicals won't dissolve the shield.

Ear protection may be needed when cleaning some equipment because of noise levels.

Ear protection includes foam or rubber type earplugs and headphones.

Earplugs should have a plastic string holding them together so they don't get lost in the facility and show up in the product at a later date.

The last category of PPE is gloves.

These are the latex or nitrile gloves that Eva used earlier for handling cheese, but they are not suitable for working with cleaning chemicals.

Here are several styles that are resistant to the caustic and acid chemicals used for cleaning dairy plants.

Although this green pair looks a lot like dishwashing gloves from the grocery store, these purple dishwashing gloves are not chemical resistant and should not be used.

Gloves come in different sizes, and wearing the correct size will give you the dexterity to do the job properly.

Now that we've talked about the individual pieces of PPE for cleaning and some options, let's look at how to dress for the job.

Our first example is cleaning the pasteurizer.

This equipment uses concentrated liquid caustic and acid cleaners and a clean in place process.

Eva starts with our chemical resistant boots and apron.

Because cleaning the pasteurizer is noisy, she will wear earplugs.

To protect her eyes and face from splashes, Eva uses the full face shield and tightens the adjustable headband, so that it stays in place.

Now, Eva puts on the heavy chemical resistant gloves and she is ready to clean the pasteurizer.

Our second example is cleaning the cheese vat and utensils.

This is done by manual cleaning, using a powdered cleaner that Eva will dissolve in a bucket of hot water.

Eva starts with her chemical resistant boots and apron.

For manual cleaning, she will need eye protection and a pair of chemical resistant gloves.

In this case, the safety glasses and lighter chemical resistant gloves are sufficient protection.

Now, Eva is ready to clean the cheese vat and utensils.

Cleaning dairy processing plants involves using hazardous chemicals.

Wearing the right PPE for the job will protect workers and reduce accidents.