WHAT DOES IT COVER
The Standard assists manufacturers and assembly packers of all types of non-food consumer goods to adopt good manufacturing practices and management systems so that they are able to consistently produce safe, legal products and meettheir customer’s quality requirements.
Consumer products cover a very wide and diverse range of goods. The Standard identifies 21 specific categories divided by product technology and material type and auditors are trained to have knowledge and experience of the particular technologies in order to be registered. The Standard is applicable to all types of consumer goods such as:
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toys
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textiles
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electrical items
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kitchenware
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DIY items
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cosmetics
A few products, however, are excluded from the scope such as motor vehicles, bulk fuel, services, pharmaceuticals dispensed by doctors, vitamins & minerals, plants & flowers, Live animals / pets
The standard recognises 3 levels of hygiene risk depending on the end use of the consumer goods
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Group 1 : Products which need to be made under hygienic conditions, have specific legal requirements concerning safety and/or the potential to cause serious harm
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Group 2 : Products with specific legal requirements concerning safety and/or potential to cause serious harm
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Group 3 : Lower risk products
Each Product Group has its own defined audit requirements
The Standard provides guidance to the site on how to determine the appropriate product group
The standard consists of 8 sections. Each section is divided into clauses and those applicable to each products group are identified.
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Senior Management Commitment and Continual Improvement - Establishes the principle that it is essential for the most senior people in a company to understand the importance of a systematic approach to quality and safety.
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Risk Management - Defines the need for the potential product risks to be assessed during both the design and production stages and requires the site to keep up to date with all applicable legal requirements concerning the products they are producing.
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Management Systems - Requires the site to have a documented and systematic structure. This section has many similarities with other quality management standards such as ISO9001. Sites with established systems in place may find they have many of the requirements of this section already in place.
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Site Standards - Covers the need for a suitable, clean, tidy and well organised site with adequate staff facilities. This section also addresses pest control and waste disposal.
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Product Control - Includes requirements for reference samples, evaluation of chemical formulation, control of non-conforming materials and stock control
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Product Conformity Assessment - Specifies the manner in which testing, inspection and evaluation of product claims are conducted.
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Process Control - Explains how to establish and maintain process controls, equipment calibration, foreign body controls and similar issues.
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Personnel - Requirements for the training of staff and expectations on protective clothing and personnel hygiene.