Wayne-Sanderson Farms

Looking to identify an affordable, reliable, and accurate monitoring solution for Peracetic Acid, Wayne- Sanderson Farms discovered ChemDAQ nearly 10 years ago and has since rolled out ChemDAQ’s monitoring solutions company-wide across the U.S.

OVERVIEW

In 2014, Peracetic Acid (PAA) was introduced as an emerging antimicrobial chemical for poultry processing operations. Wayne-Sanderson Farms was among the first in the industry to explore and implement PAA, and in doing so, quickly realized the need for vapor monitoring to ensure worker safety. Due to the lack of real-time, continuous monitoring solutions available, safety management sought a third-party industrial hygienist to conduct regularly scheduled air sampling to establish baselines and measure for acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Costs from subcontracting quickly added up, and Wayne- Sanderson Farms began to seek more accurate, cost-effective solutions.

Initial conversations with chemical monitoring manufacturers proved challenging, as companies could not explain or validate how they arrived at their calculation for the level of PAA in the air. Upon further research, Wayne-Sanderson Farms discovered that these companies did not measure the chemical itself, but rather used a formula to infer PAA levels based on percentages of other known chemicals, namely acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide.

CHEMDAQ'S SOLUTION

As part of Wayne-Sanderson Farms' continuous improvement operations model, corporate safety experts constantly research ways to improve chemical monitoring systems in order the enhance workplace safety. That’s when they discovered ChemDAQ, Inc., a chemical monitoring manufacturer based out of Pittsburgh, PA with nearly 20 years of experience monitoring antimicrobial chemicals.

A discovery call with ChemDAQ Technical Support to understand the science behind the solution proved what Wayne-Sanderson Farms hoped would be true: ChemDAQ calibrated their sensors with PAA vapor, not a surrogate gas, which made measurements more accurate and reduced risk of cross-sensitivity. As such, Wayne-Sanderson Farms immediately purchased ChemDAQ equipment.

IMPLEMENTATION

Wayne-Sanderson Farms initially implemented ChemDAQ’s SafeCide™ monitoring system, a portable solution that allows you to easily and precisely detect and measure PAA levels on the plant floor, conduct spot checks and identify sources of possible leaks.

"SafeCide is a simple, well thought-out product. It was easy to implement, and ChemDAQ’s Technical Support team helped provide proper education and setup for rapid results."

Wayne-Sanderson Farms quickly realized the benefits of monitoring could be utilized with fixed applications as well, namely where PAA is stored and dispensed before it enters plant operations. Safety management has since expanded their inventory to include ChemDAQ’s Steri-Trac® monitoring system, a fixed monitor that continuously and simultaneously measures PAA vapor levels in the air, generates audible and visual alarms and stores data.

RESULTS

"Our return on investment was almost immediate."

The implementation of ChemDAQ monitoring systems allowed Wayne-Sanderson Farms to reduce third-party costs and enhance on-site safety operations. Facilities across the country now conduct regular testing for PAA vapor and can make adjustments, as needed, in real-time to ensure their employees are kept safe and operations remain up-and-running. By expanding their monitoring suite to include both portable and fixed solutions, they are able to quickly detect problematic areas and identify prospective issues before hazards arise, protecting both employee health and workplace safety.