Food Industry Regime
What are the Issues?
Guaranteeing food quality and safety throughout the complex global food network is an obligation for those operating along the entire food chain.
From farms, fisheries and food processors, to food service & retail establishments, food retail organisations, and distribution, storage & transport companies, each must comply with a complex network of local and international regulations.
Employee personal hygiene, with an emphasis on hand washing, is a prominent feature of the regulatory environment. However, low compliance and increased risk can occur due to:
- Unclear and non prescriptive guidelines
- The multitude of product choices
- Cultural diversity among employees
- Competing priorities
- Utilisation of temporary workers
Food workers are consistently implicated in foodborne illness incidents. It is estimated that up to 36% of foodborne illness outbreaks can be traced to poor personal hygiene*. In addition, data compiled over 17,000 observations conducted by compliance officers indicated improper or inadequate hand washing in 38% of the inspected facilities**.
The impact of a foodborne illness outbreak can be devastating to any organisation.
* Hui 2006, CDC Frank Bryan 1988
** US Food and Drug Administration, 2000
Deb Response / A Skin Care System
To meet the daily hand hygiene challenge of preventing the spread of foodborne germs and bacteria, we have developed The Deb Food Industry Skin Safety Regime.
With over 65 years experience in away from home skin care, Deb is uniquely qualified to provide a structured approach to the skin safety challenges. We begin with the end game in mind – every person in every part of the organisation does “the right thing” with regard to skin safety.
Whether your organisation is based on a single site employing a few people, multi-sites employing thousands or a complex international business, the Deb Food Industry Skin Safety Regime has been designed to integrate with existing Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) programmes, standard operating procedures and regulations, as well as Health and Safety guidelines.
Your challenges are unique to your organisation and our regime is tailored to meet your specific needs. It integrates with your own risk management activities including Health and Safety procedures; occupational health requirements; and the provision of personal protective equipment.
The regime is based on The Deb Skin Care System™ which comprises a complementary range of skin care products and support activities to overcome obstacles and encourage employee motivation to comply with a rigorous skin safety philosophy.
A Skin Care System
Best in class product and support activities are uniquely combined into 6-steps to create The Deb Skin Care System™.
4-Step Product Range
Our product range accomodates a broad variety of user preferences and application requirements. All Deb products are fully tested, supported and colour- coded for easy identification.
Protect — Food grade pre-work creams to help protect the skin against contact with various workplace contaminants, irritants and working conditions by limiting the contact between the two and facilitate subsequent cleansing. This allows the mildest possible cleansers to be used.
Cleanse — Hand cleansers, appropriate for use in food environments, ensure that hands are properly cleaned and prepared for any food related task.
Sanitise — Products that can be used without water to kill germs and provide a higher level of hand hygiene and skin disinfection. Suitable for use in food environments.
Restore — After work reconditioning creams help to maintain the skin in healthy condition by keeping the skin soft and supple, avoiding dryness. Good skin condition is an important element in ensuring good hand hygiene practice.
2-Step Support Activities
The Deb Support Package provides easy to understand education and training materials to raise skin care awareness and encourage appropriate use and compliance. This combines with ongoing technical support to provide help and advice in relation to the use of Deb products and an auditing programme to help implement standards and drive compliance.
Educate — The provision of education, training and awareness materials to encourage good hand hygiene practice.
Audit — Conducting ‘pre and post’ audits to help establish and maintain the effectiveness of the Deb Food Industry Skin Safety Regime.
Real Benefits
"The Deb Food Industry Skin Safety Regime is designed to help raise hand hygiene standards and reduce the risk of food being cross-contaminated."
The Deb Food Industry Skin Safety Regime will reduce the cost of skin care provision in your organisation or facility.
Deb offers low cost-in-use product and the potential to reduce the many indirect business costs associated with poor hand hygiene and the spread of germs. These are likely to be many times higher than the cost of skin care products themselves. The adoption of the Deb approach will also provide the following benefits:
- Mitigate the risks from foodborne germs and bacteria linked to improper hand hygiene
- Enhance regulatory compliance
- Reduce absence through skin safety issues
- Motivate employees to comply with hand hygiene protocols
- Brand protection and reputation
By choosing Deb as your skin care provider you will benefit from one standard of skin care for all your requirements.
Our commitment is to conduct:
- Site audits
- System maintenance
- Regular management review meetings
- Introduction on new products, service and measurement tools
