Hygiene Zones and Layout: Ravensworth Bakery Production Floor

Why hygiene comes first

Ravensworth Bakery supplies bread, rolls and cakes to shops and cafés across the region, and a single case of contamination could close the factory. For this reason, every member of the production team, including temporary staff, must understand how the production floor is arranged and which route to follow through it. Please read this guide carefully before your first shift.

Starting your shift

The staff entrance is at the western end of the south wall. Once inside, go straight into the locker room, which is in the south-west corner of the building. Leave all outdoor clothing, jewellery and personal items in your locker, and put on the white coat, hat and boots provided. From the locker room, walk east into the hygiene station, where you must wash and dry your hands and walk through the boot-cleaning trough. The doors to the production area will not open until you have used the hand-washing machine.

Making the dough

Raw ingredients enter the building through pipes from the flour silos in the north-west corner. Next to the silos, to the east, is the mixing room, where flour, water, yeast and other ingredients are combined in large mixers. Noise levels in this room are high, so ear defenders must be worn. The dough is then moved south to the proving room against the west wall, where it rests in warm, damp cabinets and rises before baking.

Baking and cooling

The ovens fill the north-eastern part of the floor and reach temperatures of over 250 degrees. Heat-resistant gloves must always be used here. After baking, products pass through the high-care area in the centre of the floor, where cakes are decorated and sandwiches are filled. Staff working in high-care wear blue coats instead of white ones. Bread that does not need decorating goes instead to the cooling area along the east wall, directly south of the ovens, and is left on tall racks for at least an hour.

Packing and dispatch

When products are cool, they are wrapped and boxed in the packing hall, which lies east of the hygiene station on the south side. Finished boxes are then taken to dispatch, in the south-east corner, where they are loaded onto vans for early morning delivery. Dispatch staff work from 2 am to 10 am.

Important rules

Never move from the packing hall or dispatch back into high-care without washing your hands again at the hygiene station. Eating, drinking and chewing gum are not allowed anywhere on the production floor. If you feel unwell, especially with stomach problems, you must tell your supervisor before starting work. Hair nets must cover all hair, and beard covers are provided for staff who need them.