Advantage Good Agricultural Practices Manual

3.1 Equipment Maintenance and Calibration

Food, livestock or poultry may become contaminated if a regular maintenance and calibration schedule is not in place for production equipment.

This Good Agricultural Practice applies to:

All farms.

Benefits of maintenance and calibration

In addition to protecting food safety, equipment maintenance and calibration can:

• Maximize production efficiency
• Reduce equipment- related costs due to unexpected repairs, eplacement and downtime

What needs to be done

To protect the safety of food, livestock and poultry, equipment maintenance and calibration practices must be performed at the required frequency and according to the equipment manufacturer's specifications.

How to do it

Identify production equipment critical to food safety that requires maintenance and calibration, such as sprayers, manure spreaders, scales, feed mixers, dispensers, medicators, refrigerators, coolers and temperature-monitoring devices.

Calibrate equipment at recommended frequencies following manufacturers' instructions to ensure measuring is performed accurately.

Perform maintenance as detailed in the manufacturers' operating manuals, such as lubricating with proper lubricants, changing oil and filters, replacing parts, tightening loose screws and adjusting belts.

Visually inspect equipment for potential problems such as cracked or pitted surfaces and leaking oil.

Repair or discard damaged equipment, crates and containers.

Use food-grade lubricants, paints and oils if these materials are likely to come into contact with ready-to-eat product such as fresh produce, eggs or milk.

How do I calibrate my thermometer?

Place a hand-held thermometer in a bucket filled with ice and cold water. Let the thermometer sit in the bucket for a couple of minutes, then take a reading. If the reading is 0°C, your thermometer is calibrated. If it reads something other than 0°C, label the thermometer with the number of degrees by which it is off.

For example, if the reading is +0.5°C, all temperature readings with that thermometer would need to subtract 0.5:

• Thermometer A reading in ice bucket = +0.5 °C
• Thermometer A reading in cooler = +5.5 °C
• Actual temperature of cooler = +5.0 °C
  

In general

If food, livestock or poultry have become contaminated due to equipment failure, seek advice on the best course of action (e.g. observance of withdrawal times, cleaning and sanitizing, or disposal options).

Records to keep

Equipment Maintenance and Calibration Record. We have provided a record template for your use in the Training and Support Tools section. A printable version is also available. Or keep your own record that includes:

• Date
• Equipment
• Action performed
• Reason for action (e.g. regular maintenance, equipment failure)
• Initials of worker
  

If you need an audit

Be prepared for the auditor to:

• Review records of all maintenance and calibration activities for equipment critical to food safety.
• Observe whether only food-grade approved lubricants and paints are used on equipment that comes into direct contact with food.
  

Laws and regulations that apply

Legal requirements for refrigeration are usually related to disease control, to keep microbial populations at their minimum growth potential. The Milk Act, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 761, s. 5 (2) prohibits a producer from selling or offering for sale milk that has not been cooled in a farm bulk tank to a temperature of 4°C or lower within two hours of milking and maintained at a temperature not lower than 1°C nor higher than 4°C (except during the period within two hours after milking) and filtered by means of an approved single-service filter or a stainless steel mesh-type filter.

Milk Act, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 761, s. 13 (2) and (3) sets out requirements for maintaining in good condition and repair the milking equipment and utensils for producing, handling and storing milk or cream. There is also a requirement to equip the bulk tank with a refrigeration unit. S. 16 specifies calibration and measuring requirements for the refrigeration unit thermometer and agitation unit.

Proceed to 3.2 Equipment Design, Construction and Installation