of the purposes of sanitary designto makesanitation moreeffective, faster,and
more economical while satisfyingregulations and customers'expectations.In
this section we will coverthe sanitary design recommendationsfor floors,walls,
ceilings,drains, lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)
systems,personnelfacilities as wellas miscellaneousitems.
7.9.1 Floors
Although there is an entirechapterdevotedto floordesign,it mustbe said in this
overview chapter that floorsare the mostabused surfacein a foodprocessing
plant. Floors must withstand chemicalabusefrom the use of water,dust,
cleaners,sanitizers, acids,and lubricants,and eventhe abusefromparticles and
pieces of the foodproduct beingproduced.They mustalso withstandthe abuse
receivedfrommechanical meansof droppedequipment and tools,palletsbeing
dragged overthe surface,fromequipment beingmovedand holes drilledto
fastenit down. Foot trafficand forklift or palletjacktraffic will causea lot of
abuseto floors.The floorscan be exposed to temperature swingsfromclean-up
water, spillageof cooking items,hot oil fromfryers,cold waterfromchilltanks,
hot and coldwaterfromthe sanitationshift,etc. For long-lasting floors, do not
try to cut costsby purchasinga cheapcovering that will not withstandthe use
and abuseit willreceive. Cutting the capitalcost willresultin increased
maintenance costs downthe line.Woodfloors are no longer acceptablein food
processingfacilities.Thereare manyold facilitiesthat still havewoodenfloors
in the dry processingareasfor flour,starch,dry grainhandling, etc. However,
theyare not acceptablein wet processingareas.
The mostcommonbasematerial is concrete, whichis thencovered witha
sealeror monolithiccoating or a brick/tile material.If concrete is not sealedor
otherwisecovered,especiallyin wet processingareas, spallingcan occurwhere
the troweledlayerwears awayor is eatenawayand the aggregate is exposed.
Water containing highlevelsof chlorine will rapidlyeat awaythe troweledlayer.
Acids,foodproducts, and plainwaterwill alsoattack unsealed or uncovered
concrete. Exposedaggregate is a potentialhomefor microbes wheretheyfind
ideal hidingplacesand are extremelydifficult to remove.Remember also that
newly laid concrete floorsmusthavea vaporbarrier to preventmigration of
moisture fromthe soil belowthe floor.Moisturefromthis source will virtually
destroy monolithicfloorcoatings. Monolithic coatings can be epoxy,urethanes,
resins,or combinationsof these depending on the typeof abusethe floor will
receive. Chipsin floor coverings in wet areascan lead to watergetting underthe
coating and lifting it off the concrete. As it is doingthis, microbiologicalsoupis
created underthe coatingand everytime forklift wheels or foot trafficpasses over
the defect, it is exposedto a loadingof microbesfromthe waterexpelled through
the chip or hole or crackin the coating. Thismicrobial contamination can then be
spread whereverthe forkliftof the foot trafficgoes.
For long-lastingfloorsmanycompanies use acid brickor splitpavers or tile.
Although the high-endfull acid bricksmaybe moreexpensivethanmonolithic
134 Handbookof hygiene controlin the foodindustry