EHEDG Guideline 44, ‘Hygienic Design Principles for Food Factories’ (2014) proved to be an essential document for the industry, touching on a wide variety of questions on building design and food factory development - from the first planning phases to the turnkey delivery - which play a crucial role in mitigating contamination risks.

Its revision brought a number of subject matter specialists from important EHEDG company and institute members to Amsterdam, on the occasion of the kick-off meeting. 'Great support and teamwork will deliver the goal!', is the entusiastic approach of John Holah, Principal Corporate Scientist at Kersia Group, Chair of the Working Group Building & Factory Design.

Preliminary scopes per Sub-Group:

1. Building Design: Philosophy and Design Pre-requisites – Chair: Herwig Nollet (Polysto)

• Introduction to factory design
• Brownfield, greenfield, legacy design
• Climate change adaptation
• Sustainability & lifecycle costs
• Psychology of factory design

2. Mitigating Hazards by Hygienic Design Principles - Chair: Edwin Slingerland (Ruys Groep)

• Hazard management: zoning risk assessment, segregation, barrier control, airlocks, pests, materials of construction
• People management: personal hygiene and cleaning requirements in the building design

3. External and Internal Building Elements - Chair: Gert Siekmans (Ruys Groep)

• Site & factory envelope
• Junctions and joints
• Internal fittings
• Health and safety references
• Zoning
• Movement of hazards between floors
• Condensation
• Installation

4. Services - Chair: Dimitri Tavernarakis (Mondelēz International)

• Pipework
• Fire sprinkler systems
• Electrical
• Air management and distribution
• Waste management
• Fixings

5. Managing Building Activities - Chair: Gun Wirtanen (Firma Lövås)

• Managing building work during production and equipment installation – risk assessment
• Building commissioning, validation and comparison with URS
• Training for constructors and contractors

The team is working towards the ambitious goal of delivering a very first draft of the document by end of May 2023.

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