CHA Preventive Maintenance Procedures 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which document is most critical for establishing a preventive maintenance (PM) schedule in a HACCP-regulated food facility?
- Equipment manufacturer's maintenance manual (Correct answer)
- Employee break schedule
- Pest control service log
- Customer complaint records
Correct answer: Equipment manufacturer's maintenance manual
The manufacturer's maintenance manual specifies recommended service intervals and procedures that form the foundation of a PM schedule.
Question 2: A food plant uses food-grade lubricants on equipment that contacts product. What is the PRIMARY reason for this requirement?
- They are cheaper than industrial lubricants
- Incidental contact with food will not create a safety hazard (Correct answer)
- They provide better corrosion resistance
- Regulatory agencies require lubrication logs
Correct answer: Incidental contact with food will not create a safety hazard
Food-grade lubricants (e.g., H1 classification) are formulated so that incidental food contact does not pose a health risk.
Question 3: After completing a maintenance task on a filler machine, which step is MOST important before resuming production?
- Update the PM log
- Perform a pre-operational sanitation inspection (Correct answer)
- Notify the shift supervisor by phone
- Order replacement parts for next service
Correct answer: Perform a pre-operational sanitation inspection
A pre-operational sanitation inspection ensures that tools, debris, and non-food-grade materials are removed before food production resumes.
Question 4: In HACCP terminology, a piece of equipment malfunction that could allow metal fragments into product would be classified as a:
- Prerequisite program failure
- Potential physical hazard at a CCP (Correct answer)
- Minor deviation
- Sanitation standard operating procedure (SSOP) gap
Correct answer: Potential physical hazard at a CCP
Metal fragments from faulty equipment constitute a physical hazard that must be controlled, often at a designated CCP such as a metal detector.
Question 5: A facility's PM program requires monthly belt inspection on a conveyor. An auditor finds the last inspection was performed 47 days ago. This is BEST described as:
- An acceptable variance within tolerance
- A deviation requiring corrective action documentation (Correct answer)
- A critical limit violation
- A calibration error
Correct answer: A deviation requiring corrective action documentation
Missing a scheduled PM interval is a deviation from the program that must be documented and corrected per the facility's procedures.
Question 6: Which element should be included in a PM work order to support HACCP traceability?
- Employee pay grade
- Date, equipment ID, parts used, and technician signature (Correct answer)
- Customer purchase order number
- Shift production yield
Correct answer: Date, equipment ID, parts used, and technician signature
Traceability in PM records requires identifying when work was done, on which equipment, what materials were used, and who performed the work.
Question 7: When scheduling preventive maintenance during production hours is unavoidable, what control is MOST important to implement?
- Post a sign warning employees
- Isolate or segregate the maintenance area to prevent product contamination (Correct answer)
- Reduce line speed by 10%
- Assign extra quality inspectors to downstream stations
Correct answer: Isolate or segregate the maintenance area to prevent product contamination
Physical isolation of the maintenance zone prevents tools, lubricants, and debris from contaminating product moving through adjacent areas.
CHA Preventive Maintenance Procedures 2
Which document is most critical for establishing a preventive maintenance (PM) schedule in a HACCP-regulated food facility?