Here at JOS Cleanroom we often get questions not only about our services but also about Cleanrooms generally. Here we have answer some questions about us and some questions about the industry generally.
What is a Cleanroom?
Cleanrooms have been around since the 1960 and provide a particle free environment for the manufacturing, life sciences and food processing industries. ISO standard defines cleanrooms as a “room within which the number concentration of airborne particles is controlled and classified, and which is designed, constructed and operated in a manner to control the introduction, generation and retention of particles inside the room”.
Are all cleanrooms the same?
Cleanrooms come in all different shapes and sizes depending on their application and needs. Manufacturing and pharmaceuticals plants may well be encompassed by the clean room envelope but for other application like compounding cytotoxic drugs within a hospital an individual area or room in isolation will only be required to meet the standards. Modular or mobile clean rooms may also my used for certain industries or projects and cost considerably less than a traditional build cleanroom. Cleanrooms have different ISO classifications and requirements depending on their application and industry.
What is Personal Protective Clothing?
In order to protect the staff and cleanroom environment from contamination every one working within this environment must wear the appropriate personal protective equipment. This equipment is designed specifically to provide advanced protection to the employees and the cleanrooms environment. This equipment usually includes coveralls with integrated hood and shoe cover to minimise the risk of particle shedding to the clean room.
What equipment can be used in a Cleanroom?
The choice of Cleanroom Furniture will have an impact on the performance of a cleanroom. To meet the highest standards clean room furniture needs to be extremely smooth & sturdy ensuring reduced particle retention which makes stainless steel the material of choice.
When introducing any item in to the clean room environment ideal it should be moisture resistant, scratch resistant, chemical resistant and Impact resistant. Special clean room stationery and documentation systems may also be required depending on the standards required. This special stationary includes cleanroom packaging, notebooks, pens, cleanroom tape and computer forms.
Contamination and Business Risk?
Contamination is by far the biggest risk to the manufacturing processes when sterile production is required. Failure to have the correct procedures in place for routine testing and cleaning of the controlled environment may result in product recalls, damaged reputation and loss of business. All testing and cleaning should be carried out by suitable trained personal. Very strict contamination prevention procedures must be designed and toughly implemented for each individual cleanroom.