Lubrication – prevention or threat?

The aspect of lubrication, i.e. the use of lubricants during machine maintenance in companies involved in food and feed production, should be viewed from two perspectives. In addition to inspection and repair, maintenance of machines and devices is one of the sub-processes that make up a comprehensive maintenance process, the aim of which is to maintain the machinery in good technical condition, and as a result, to ensure continuity of production in the plant. A comprehensive CMMS system improves lubrication management, preventing failures and ensuring compliance with HACCP. By integrating schedules with the CMMS system , maintenance teams proactively solve problems and track the lubricants used, minimizing the risk of contamination.

Preventive Maintenance: Machine Lubrication 

Preventive maintenance, or proactive maintenance, involves assessing the technical condition of the device, which is monitored at a later stage. This condition assessment may indicate the need to undertake work to prevent degradation of the device, such as cleaning, lubrication, surface coating, adjustment, etc. The proactive maintenance plan and preventive maintenance procedures should be developed primarily based on the technical and operational documentation (DTR) of the device, which includes instructions for using the device and provides information on periodic maintenance and operating activities. Thus, DTR provides recommendations for maintenance services in the plant.

Lubrication as prevention

Lubrication, as an element of maintenance activities of devices, should in itself be treated as prevention against the occurrence of friction. Friction is the phenomenon occurring when two bodies loaded with a force perpendicular to their contact surface slide over each other, accompanied by resistance called friction force. Using the right lubricant during maintenance will help avoid the destruction of the contact surface. And here we should look at lubrication as a threat, which in the food and feed industry should be included in the risk analysis. While the selection of a product in terms of technical usability due to the wide range available on the market may not be difficult, the selection of a product in terms of its safety for the food product that may come into contact with the lubricated surface or with the product itself may not be so simple. Very often today we hear about the so-called withdrawal of a product from the market, which is not fit for consumption due to the threat it carries.

In 2023, the RASFF rapid warning system notified 4,721 food products, of which over 1,000 products were withdrawn from the market . Among the hazard categories found in non-compliant products, the dominant number are notifications related to the presence of unauthorized pesticides, undefined hazards, pathogenic microorganisms. However, the top twenty also saw exceedances related to the content of heavy metals, foreign bodies and chemical contaminants. These categories may include lubricant residues, among others. These hazards most likely resulted from failure to ensure appropriate hygiene and production practices and procedures or improperly conducted HACCP risk analysis , and in some cases its absence, which is illegal from the point of view of the law, because, as stated in Article 5 (1) of Regulation 852/2004, “Food business operators shall draw up, implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures based on the HACCP principles” and Article 6 (1). 1 of Regulation 183/2005 “Feed business operators carrying out activities other than those referred to in Article 5(1) ( primary production ) shall put in place, implement and apply a permanent, written procedure or procedures based on the (HACCP) principles” .

So how can we effectively analyze the risks that lubricants may pose?

Firstly, in addition to the HACCP specialist and specialists in the given areas of activity, the multidisciplinary HACCP team must include a representative of the maintenance department who knows the production processes, the machinery park, and participates in drawing up a plan for inspections and maintenance of the machines. Then, the HACCP specialist, in cooperation with the UTR representative and the Production department, should “go through” all the processes in the company in which the machines operate and, for each machine/production line, assess whether there is a risk of contamination of the raw material, semi-finished product, or finished product during the operation of the machine, depending on the stage/production process. If, as a result of the analysis, the HACCP team members determine where the threat may come from (directly from the elements of the installation, e.g. bearing, drive shaft, belt conveyor, screw conveyor or secondarily as a result of damage, wear, excessive loads, improper maintenance of the machine), it is necessary to develop preventive measures that must be taken so that the identified potential threat does not fall outside the control of the HACCP system.

Lubrication as a Potential Hazard

In the event of ineffective preventive action, corrective and corrective actions should be developed immediately at the stage of the analysis. At this stage, when we have made a preliminary inventory of the processes and machines involved in them, it should be determined whether a given machine, the elements of which are lubricated, may have contact with food to which the lubricant could get, or whether it is an element that may come into contact with the product but as a result of, for example, uncontrolled product splashing, which may then return to production. It will certainly happen that some lubricated elements will be outside the area of ​​contact with food. Of course, we will be most concerned that the lubricant does not come into contact with the product under any circumstances, but I know from experience that incidents do happen. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume the possibility of the lubricant getting into the product and to select lubricants that will be used to maintain machine elements in such cases. Within the wide range of lubricants available on the market, our Maintenance Department will be interested in two categories of lubricants, i.e. H1 and H2. In the food sector, we often hear H1 greases referred to as “food greases” and H2 greases as “non-food greases”. This is not the correct term and may also mislead the user.

Lubricant Risk Analysis

The H1 and H2 grease categories are a kind of designation of certified greases by the NSF, the American organization National Sanitary Foundation. The former may come into incidental contact with food, while the latter cannot come into contact with food. What should be remembered and emphasized is this incidental contact with food. It happens that employees forget about it and use more grease than recommended, even this H1, and the level of incidental contact and permissible content of the lubricant in the product is limited and has been set at 10 mg / kg. In addition to the fact that the lubricant will have the correct labeling, at the risk analysis stage we should also check whether it is in the so-called NSF white paper at the Internet address https://info.nsf.org/usda/Listings.asp .

Lubricant Supplier Audit

Once we have found the name of our agent in the Book, we must necessarily compare the consistency of the data available in the Book and on the agent’s packaging: the NSF registration number and symbol and the category symbol. Once we have checked all this, we must try to check with the grease supplier whether they also have a quality certificate issued by the National Institute of Public Health – National Institute of Hygiene in Poland. This is important because some NSF certificates will only be recognized locally in the USA. Finally, we cannot forget about the lubricants used for lubricants. We may have properly selected lubricants for the areas of use, but what if we manage the lubricators incorrectly and charge the lubricator on H1 with H2? Therefore, it is important that the lubricators are signed, stored in a locked, supervised cabinet or room to which specific employees of the Maintenance Department have access. In addition, properly cleaned lubricators should be placed in the cabinet or room after they have been used. The handle and lubrication pipe should be wiped of any grease residue. Otherwise, if we leave the lubricator uncleaned, when we use it again we may cause cross-contamination from grease residues from the device, and the device may not be functional, and we will be forced to use another lubricator, not necessarily the right one, which will cause further errors.

At the stage of conducting a risk analysis, it is worth asking the lubricant supplier to conduct a so-called zero interview audit, during which a representative of the lubricant supplier goes together with a HACCP specialist, UTR specialist and selects lubricants based on an on-site inspection. Thanks to this, we gain expert selection of means, save time, and a professional approach to risk analysis. It is better to take all possible preventive measures than to receive information from the customer that there is “some black grease” in their product…

Summary 

To sum up our article, we can easily state that preventing lubricant contamination in the food industry requires a multi-faceted approach. By conducting a thorough risk assessment, selecting the right lubricants and implementing rigorous maintenance procedures,
there is no doubt that food manufacturers can significantly reduce the likelihood of contamination incidents. The use of certified lubricants combined with regular audits and training is essential to maintaining a high level of food safety.
Want to know more about how food manufacturing companies manage to keep their production running? Check out our CMMS system for 14 days free of charge and arrange a consultation. Contact us to find out more. Call +48 12 400 41 70.
Literature :

1. Module 3 Causes of damage to agricultural machines, equipment and tools and types of their wear, Distance Learning, 2020,
2. Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs (OJ L 139, 30.4.2004),
3. Regulation (EC) No 183/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 January 2005 laying down requirements for feed hygiene (OJ L 35, 8.2.2005),
4. https://info.nsf.org/usda/Listings.asp,
5. https://gacol.pl/files/UserFiles/rozdzial%2021.pdf.