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EHEDG Guideline 44 - Part 2, ‘Managing of Building Work and Equipment Installation/Removal During Food Production’ | New available guideline
Now available in our catalogue
EHEDG has released Guideline 44 Part 2, addressing the critical risks of construction and equipment installation in operational food production areas. Prompted by real-world contamination incidents and aligned with GFSI standards, this new document provides practical guidance to ensure food safety during building activities in active factory environments.
The decision to develop Part 2 of EHEDG Guideline 44 was driven by the increasing recognition within the food industry of the serious contamination risks posed by conducting construction or equipment installation in areas where food production is actively taking place. Several high-profile incidents underscored this need: in particular, Listeria outbreaks in the UK chilled food sector and two separate Salmonella outbreaks—ten years apart—at a U.S. breakfast cereal facility. In the latter case, pathogens dormant in a concrete wall were disturbed during renovation work, leading to widespread contamination.
These events demonstrated that even well-established facilities are vulnerable when building work is performed without strict hygienic controls. The 2020 Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmark standards (Scopes J1 and J2) responded by stressing the importance of risk assessments before starting any construction or installation activities in operational food environments. However, the industry lacked specific, practical guidance on how to safely manage these high-risk scenarios.
To fill this gap, EHEDG Working Group ‘Building and Factory Design’ (SubGroup 5) set out to create a focused, risk-based document tailored specifically to construction and installation activities in live production settings. Part 2 of Guideline 44 was developed to complement existing hygienic design principles by offering targeted strategies to prevent contamination during these critical phases of a facility’s lifecycle.
Watch the full interview with the Chair of the EHEDG Working Group, John Holah (Kersia) and EHEDG Working Group member, Simon Burns (ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre – Cardiff Metropolitan University). A special thanks to Gun Wirtanen (Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences) and Garry Pearson (Kersia).
