Cleaning food production and processing facilities is both a legal and an operational mandate. It’s the most important part of maintaining sanitary, hygienic conditions inside the plant. Doing so used to be much more challenging in the old days than it is now, thanks to how much we have progressed in cleaning technology. Even then, industrial cleaning is still not easy, and it can be dangerous too. You will need properly trained sanitation workers to handle the advanced cleaners. As to what they are exactly, let’s find out.
High-Pressure Cleaners
High-pressure washers are suited to clean most machinery and industrial storage units found in a food production facility. As the name itself suggests, high-pressure industrial cleaners use pressurized water to clean food contact surfaces, walls, floors, machinery, storage units, and just about anything. However, there are variations depending on what the cleaner might be specialized to clean.
For example, mobile high-pressure washers are best suited for cleaning intermediate bulk containers (IBC), commonly known as totes. Despite the added mobility, tote cleaners are seldom as sanitary as a dedicated CIP high-pressure cleaning system. If you want the relative mobility of a tote cleaner that can also maintain the same hygienic standards expected of a CIP cleaner, check out the full story here.
Industrial Vacuum Cleaners
Industrial vacuum cleaners work in much the same way as regular vacuum cleaners do, albeit with a few distinct differences. As is to be expected, they are considerably more powerful than any regular vacuum cleaner, quite capable of sucking in heavy metallic dust without any issues. What makes the industrial vacuum cleaner truly different is its combustion and explosion proof design.
Given that every food processing facility if full of ignitable/combustible dust, all it takes is a little friction for the dust to catch fire. If it catches fire inside an enclosed space such as a regular vacuum cleaner’s storage bag, the entire thing will explode. Such dust explosions are a common cause for multiple work related injuries, deaths, and property damage inside food production and processing plants every year. Modern industrial vacuum cleaners are designed to prevent such accidents from happening, which makes them a priority cleaning component.
Industrial Scrubbers and Sweepers
Sometimes, water pressure alone is not enough to get rid of congealed messes found regularly inside food processing plants. That’s when the industrial scrubbers and sweepers are used to physically weaken the congealment, making it easier for high pressure cleaners to wash the dirt and grime off without wasting too much water. They are also ideal for cleaning floors and other indirect contact surfaces at a cheaper cost.
These three components should be able to cover the cleaning needs of any food production plant in its entirety. Choose the components based on your own business’s specific sanitation requirements, as the three do come in a broad range of subvarieties. Also, how many of what you may need to keep your food production facility sanitized will also vary depending on scale and scope.