[AIB News]

AIB’s Engineering for Food Safety Class Helps Eliminate Common Design Errors in Food Processing Facilities

Plant consolidation, along with increased automation and product diversity, increases the need for an awareness of food safety issues by both management and staff at food processing plants. AIB’s “Engineering for Food Safety” seminar is designed to help managers, maintenance personnel and design engineers develop procedures to eliminate common design errors that lead to food safety issues. The two-day seminar begins with the site selection process and ends with a corrective action workshop. Other sessions include:

• “A History of the Good Manufacturing Processes” including the role of maintenance in food safety and a discussion of why sound equipment design is so important for food safety professionals.
• “Outside Grounds and Site Location” including how landscaping and lawn care practices impact food safety.
• “Plant Layout” including the role of process flow in food plants and post- installation analysis, modification and corrective actions.
• “Environmental Issues” including waste water run-off concerns and sewage and waste water management.
• “Plant Design” including air handling systems, floors and drainage, doors and windows, and exterior/interior walls, ceilings and roof.

The seminar also features a workshop designed to help attendees identify real-life food safety issues in food plants, establish a development plan, and design correction actions with long-term results in mind. Attendees also will review AIB’s Consolidated Standards and discuss the auditor’s expectations, as well as review common pest management issues at food plants.

Cost of the seminar, scheduled for July 30-31 at AIB International in Manhattan, Kan., is $695 per participant. To enroll, visit www.aibonline.org or call toll-free 800/242-2534. Successful completion of the course earns the participant 1.2 CEUs. Participants also receive a free copy of the book Engineering for Food Safety and Sanitation by industry icon Thomas J. Imholte.