< PreviousHYGIENE30Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.netThe fallout from a health, safety or hygienescare can be difficult for any company to manage.Depending on the severity of the case it mightmean fines, media attention – or worse – loss of amajor contract. Despite this, proper health andsafety management is considered a nebulousconcern, one to be adhered to at a bare minimumlevel, leaving many companies left off-guard andout of place when someone eventually goeswrong. In the pharmaceutical sector, hygiene isharder to manage than any other, and theconsequences can reach much further. Thisadded pressure is one which necessitates swiftaction.Most obviously, companies that aren’t able topoint to clear health and safety regulations willusually find themselves unable to win contractsfrom major customers. This happens more oftenfor contract manufacturers seeking to wincontracts from pharma giants who cannot affordto take risks with their well-known, globalreputations. The importance of security and speedacross the supply chain means retailers demandmanufacturers and distributors reach the higheststandards and must be able to illustrate theirMany pharma manufacturers considermatters of hygiene to be commonsense, but nothing is quite that simple.Cleanand safe30-33_Layout 1 07/08/2017 11:14 Page 1Pharma Business International 31www.pbiforum.netHYGIENEcommitment to quality – and a formalhealth and safety policy, with fullinformation on potential flashpoints andthe measures in place to deal with them,is usually required.What many in the pharmaceuticalindustry tend to forget is that, unlike withmost cases of efficiency, the humanelement is more required than not insafety and hygiene – even when a linemight be all but fully automated. Whileautomated machines are designed not tomake mistakes, that does not meanaccidents do not happen, and whenthere is a spillage or contamination, mostprocess systems will not have beendesigned with a solution in mind. It’s theold adage of something being created tobe perfect not having the solution to© Shutterstock / Panatda Saengow32 Á© Shutterstock / sergeisimonov30-33_Layout 1 07/08/2017 11:14 Page 2HYGIENE32Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.netwhat happens when it is imperfect. Due to the differing nature of hygienerisks and how they can occur, it is oftena requirement to bring in outside help tojudge and identify potential flashpoints.These can come from any number ofaspects, be it the ingredients themselves,the way employees work or simply theatmosphere of a given facility. The latteris one such aspect that many companiesmight overlook. Clean air is of paramountconcern for the industry, not only due tothe stringent requirements involved in themanufacture of pharmaceutical produce,but also to avoid the reputational crisis ofany incidents occurring. With a variety ofharmful microbes and particles able totravel via air, there is great potential forharmful microbes to interact with theprocess at a crucial stage, possiblyleading to contaminated products.A benefit to the pharma markethowever, is that many health and safetyproducts also work towards improvinghygiene – allowing a company toeffectively kill two birds with one stone.Non-slip and hygienic flooring is onesuch example that can both reduce therisk of accidents within the facility – whilealso adding a clear hygienic defenceagainst contaminants. This brings into question wherehygienic material is kept and how easy itis to bring to bear if there is a problem.Sanitation stations are commonplace inpharmaceutical production facilities andyet for many, they are locked away out ofreach, wasting employee time as theyneed to leave an area entirely to ensurethey are properly sanitised. Moving thesefacilities, as well as any others thatemployees might make use of, closer tothe actual production line can improveefficiency. This might seem a smallfactor, especially if it only saves a minuteof an individual employee’s time aday, but considering it over a longerperiod of time can make for moresavings. That single minute might alsobecome more important if a problemhappens during it, along with a productrecall because that staff member wasunavailable to solve the problem at theinstance it happened. Despite all of this, and whatevermethods are taken to reduce therisks of contamination, a stringentquality assurance line will always benecessary. There is only so much thathuman inspection can achievein any productionenvironment. Given that drugsafety is absolutely essentialfrom both a commercial and anethical standpoint, it is vital thatany potential for error iseliminated. The human eye is apowerful organ, but with theadvent of Machine Vision Systemswe are entering an entirely new – andpotentially flawless – world. For themost part, pharma manufacturersuse Machine Vision Systems tocarry out tasks such ascounting largenumbers units onthe productionline, readingproduct labels to ensurethey contain accurateinformation, portion control,and testing for faults in thepackaging of a product whichcould result in contamination ordegradation. Temperature control andmeasurement must also be implemented,particularly as part of a qualityassessment. 30-33_Layout 1 07/08/2017 11:14 Page 3Pharma Business International 33www.pbiforum.netHYGIENE© Shutterstock / Julia Sudnitskaya30-33_Layout 1 07/08/2017 11:14 Page 4Tuesday 15 – Friday 18 AugustNext Generation DxSummitGrand Hyatt Washington This summit gathers together more than1,000 international diagnostic professionals forvaluable networking and comprehensiveprogramming spanning clinical diagnostics tobusiness strategy. Now in its ninth year, theevent has grown to include novelimmunotherapy biomarkers, cell-free DNA,companion diagnostics and more. This is amust-attend event with complete coverage ofthe most timely and important issues facingthe industry. For more information, visitwww.nextgenerationdx.com. Monday 21 – Tuesday 22 August World Medical LaboratoryCongress & ExpoCrowne Plaza Hotel, SanFrancisco AirportComprised of keynote presentations, oraltalks, poster presentations and exhibitions, thiscrucial event offers a unique insight into thelaboratory sector. Here delegates can discoverdistinctive and new solutions for theirlaboratory outreach program’s most commonchallenges. For more information, emailmedical@annualcongress.com. Monday 21 – Friday 25 AugustThe Bioprocessing SummitWestin Copley Place, Boston,USA The BioProcessing Summit attracts morethan 1,000 international professionals to sharepractical solutions for the challenges facing thebioprocessing industry. Now in its ninth year,the event has grown to include 18 distinctconferences with weeklong programming onupstream and downstream processing,analytical development and quality, formulationand stability, cell and gene therapy production,and manufacturing. Along with its conferences,there’ll also be short courses and trainingseminars. For more information, visitwww.bioprocessingsummit.com.Monday 28 – Tuesday 29 August2017European RegulatoryAffairs Process with EMAHilton Zurich Airport, Switzerland This two-day summit is made up of in-depthlectures delivered by the European MedicinesAgency (EMA) and other regulatory authorities,offering delegates the chance to identify thechallenges to global submissions managementpresented by the key differences between theEU verses US. It will also explore howdelegates can demonstrate knowledge onnavigating the regulatory process through EMAregulations and inspection guidelinesregarding submissions. For more information,email support@globalcompliancepanel.com. PharmaEVENTSTuesday 22 – Thursday 24AugustCPhl Korea Seoul, Korea As the learning platform for trends andissues confronting Korea’s pharma industryand the wider region, this conference willprovide a realistic assessment of the industrychallenges and the strategies for dealing withthem. As well as updates on new products andlaunches, there will also be insight into freshservices, innovations and trends, with allsessions free to attend for visitors to CPhl andits co-located events. For more information,visit www.ubm.cphi.com.© Shutterstock / Juan Ci34Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net34-35_Layout 1 07/08/2017 11:15 Page 1Thursday 14 – Friday 15SeptemberSafety Labelling andPackaging SummitWyndham Hamilton Park, NewJersey Given pharmaceutical labelling is aconstantly shifting field, it is important forprofessionals to stay abreast of the latestchanges. This summit will provide insightson how to manage the end-to-end processof labelling and packaging drug. Among thetopics explored will be recently developedstrategies, the implementation of genericdrug labelling, the importance of packaginginserts and more. The panel will featurecase studies, panel sessions as well assessions on labelling and packagingsuccess and challenges. For moreinformation, visitwww.exlevents.com/safety-labeling-packaging-summit. Friday 15 SeptemberAdvancing IV TherapyDe Vere West One, LondonThis one day national summit focuses onwww.pbiforum.netPharma Business International 35© Shutterstock / Rudy BalaskoThursday 31 August – Friday 1September5th International PharmacyConference DoubleTree by Hilton PhiladelphiaAirportFocussed on the advancements in pharmacyand quality risk management, this internationalconference offers an opportunity for delegates tohear from industry experts to get to grips with thelatest industry developments and regulations. Itaims to provide a platform for critical analysis ofnew data, and to share the latest cutting-edgeresearch findings and results about all aspects ofpharmacy. For more information, visitwww.pharmacy.pharmaceuticalconferences.com.advancing IV therapy includingimplementing the December 2016 revisedRCN Standard for Infusion Therapy andmonitoring adherence to the NICEGuideline and Quality Standard for IVtherapy. It will focus on improving qualityand safety for both inpatient IV therapy anddelivering effective therapy at home. Formore information, call +44(0) 1932 429933.Tuesday 26 – Thursday 28SeptemberPPMA Show 2017NEC, Birmingham This year’s PPMA Show is set to be itsbiggest in 12 years, with delegatesdescended on the NEC to discover thelatest industry developments andpackaging trends. Manufacturers fromfood, pharmaceuticals, chemicals andFMCG, contract packers and more will bein attendance to find inspiration, discovernew ideas and forge invaluable newcontacts. As well as boasting more than320 echoers from across the materials,automation and robots sectors, there’ll alsobe fully working displays of the very latestinnovations in action. For more information,visit www.ppmashow.co.uk.Tuesday 12 – Wednesday 13 SeptemberClinical Trial Supply Midwest2017Chicago This event brings together pharma, device andbiotech professionals from across the Midwest region.Following a successful launch last year, the conferencewill return to Chicago for its sophomoric outingsporting more content and senior level speakers thanbefore. Due to increased demand, it will now also runfor two days. For more information, visit www.www.arena-international.com/ctsmidwest.34-35_Layout 1 07/08/2017 11:15 Page 2FEATURESAnimal HealthEfficiency and OptimisationPPECold ChainEthicsBusiness GrowthNext issue:Deadline - 27th September 2017REGULARSNewsEventsPharmaBUSINESS INTERNATIONALVisit us atwww.pbiforum.netwhere you’ll find thelatest news as it breaks – and why not subscribe to ournewsletters so you can have thelatest news emailed to yourinbox, in betweenprinted issues?@pbiforumwww.pbiforum.netcompany/po-business-international36_Layout 1 07/08/2017 11:15 Page 1Next >