80% of contamination enters critical areas via feet and wheels
Source: 3M
In industries such as food manufacturing, it is a top priority to have an effective barrier against microbial contamination from personnel, and/or equipment that travels through food contact areas.
To help stop the spread of pathogens by feet, foot baths are often used along with good personal hygiene policies and regulatory procedures. However, there are many risks associated with using foot baths…
- Foot baths are costly to install and maintain
- They can be disruptive to personnel workflow
- Foot baths must be constantly monitored to make sure a ‘bacteria bath’ is not created
- Contaminated bleach from the baths must be disposed of safely
- They may pose safety risks, including slips and falls due to water spillage during use
- Chemicals within the baths can be tough on shoe material through repeated use. This can be hazardous to critical environments if the shoe material breaks down
- The sanitizer used in the foot bath will lose its effectiveness if organic material is allowed to build up
- Ordinary foot baths should not be used as they do not provide any scrubbing action, and therefore do not prevent users from treading sediment back into the critical environment