How To Improve Standards With The Right Brewery Flooring
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How To Improve Standards With The Right Brewery Flooring
When it comes to the manufacture of alcohol products, there are certain risks that come as part of the manufacturing process, such as slips, falls and chemical irritants. To reduce the likelihood of these incidents, it is important you abide by certain health and safety standards. Such as:
- Writing a health and safety policy, and ensuring all employees are familiar with it
- Provide training for employees
- Provide the correct working facilities
- Record all first aid and accidents
- Display the health and safety law poster
It is also important that you comply with food safety laws, and that you are registered with the food standards agency as a food business.
Why Coating Concrete Slabs Is So Important
The substrate under any flooring in a brewery usually consists of concrete slabs. If this concrete were left unsealed, it would be damaged by everyday activities in a brewery such as heavy foot traffic, as well as heavy loads.
This would cause slight abrasions and pitting, which could risk the floor becoming uneven and unsafe to work on. Over time, as the floor wears away and releases dust into the air, this will become unhealthy for human consumption and can cause issues for employees if inhaled. It may even contaminate your product.
Spillage in a brewery, or any beverage manufacture facility, is inevitable. And the porous, absorbent surface of concrete can quickly take these liquids in. This can cause stains on the floor, but can also lead to issues when it comes to the hygiene of your floor, as you are unable to properly clean the floor. This can result in mould or bacteria growth.
Using a sealant on the floor, such as a resin flooring system can improve the hygiene rating of the floor, eliminate concrete damage and dust and create a non-porous surface, depending on the system used.
Improving Hygiene Standards in Breweries
The main hygiene concern of a concrete floor is the fact that it can absorb and hold any spilt liquids, which can cause bacteria and mould growth in the floor in any cracks or joins you may have.
A way to limit this is to use a resin flooring system as it provides a protective layer on top of the substrate and can prevent damage and absorption. This acts as a sealant in many ways, preventing any liquids from gaining access to the substrate, but only for some systems.
For example, PU resin floors can produce small pockets of air – known as ‘pinholes’ – during installation, which are caused by gassed off-air between layers passing through the floor. If penetrated – which is easily done – these holes can be a perfect place for bacteria and dirt to live, resulting in reduced hygiene standards.
Another option for your resin flooring system in your brewery is to use an Acrylicon floor. Which has no fine fillers in the resin, as opposed to most other resin systems. This reduces the possibility of the pinholes that can come with other solutions, as the system is completely sealed, so it is easier to clean.
Improving Health & Safety Standards With Brewery Flooring
One main benefit of a resin flooring system is the fact it can improve health and safety.
This is mainly down to the hygienic element of it, as well as slip-resistant technologies that go into each different flooring system. This ensures that even with liquids on the floor, slips can be massively reduced due to underfoot grip incorporated into the floor.
When it comes to cleaning a resin floor, it is a much easier task than trying to clean concrete.
This is due to the resin finish itself being a lot less porous than concrete and thus not absorbing liquids and spillages onto the floor. However, liquids can still penetrate any air holes in the floor, or damages and join lines from previous damages.
This is why an Acrylicon floor is superior for health and safety, as there are no pinholes on the final floor. As well as this, due to its unique chemical bonding system, no mechanical joints are present, as the floor chemically bonds to itself and to any repairs that need to take place, reducing the likelihood of any moisture getting into and underneath the resin floor.
Improving Long-Term Results With Your Brewery Flooring
Using a resin flooring system can massively improve the longevity of your floor, as the substrate itself now has a protective layer to reduce the wear on it.
However, as the resin itself takes all impact, it is important to use a solution with a high compressive strength to be able to cope with the demands of a brewery. This is to ensure the floor can last and won’t need constant replacements.
This comes from the strength of the bond lines on the floor. It is the ability of the bond lines to transmit loadings and thermal changes without reducing their “grip” that creates the longevity of the systems.
Unlike many resin flooring solutions, Acrylicon comes with a 10-year warranty as standard. This is possible due to that the whole process – from manufacture to installation – is done by Acrylicon. With other solutions, the blame for failure is passed around the chain, with nobody wanting to take responsibility for any failures that may be incurred.
Improving Aesthetics With Your Brewery Flooring
Many modern-day breweries provide access to consumers who may wish to relax and dine inside.
In this instance, how your flooring looks and its aesthetic is a major factor and the system you choose can have an impact on your company image and how you are viewed.
If you want to be viewed as a playful brewer then using a loud, bright resin solution could be an option for you, or maybe a more toned down, sophisticated approach for a more high-end brewer.
Your resin flooring can say a lot about your company, so it is important to get it right and ensure it suits your brand image.
Conclusion
To recap, there are many ways to improve standards in your brewery with the right resin floor. Choose a solution that:
- Is hygienic
- Is health & Safety optimised
- Provides a long-term solution
- Improves aesthetics
If you’d like to learn more, talk to an expert today