Ice plants: approved water, exclusive premises and the industrial machine

It is Rule 4.3.9 of Chapter 4.3 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, the Health Licence chapter, with its three sections: 4.3.9.1 on water supplies, 4.3.9.2 on location requirements and 4.3.9.3 on sanitary requirements for the installations, the last with twenty-one provisions. It is the standard for the physical plant and the equipment; the Health Licence process, with its requirements and oversight, sits in other rules of the same chapter that this site covers separately.

The rule applies to ice manufacturing plants in Puerto Rico. Its provisions on the exclusivity of the premises and on the water’s source refer expressly to ice for human consumption. And the location requirement applies to every building or premises used as an ice plant, without distinguishing by size.

• Using water from a source approved for human consumption and from a public or private supply system built, operated and maintained under the applicable laws and regulations, in line with the water-quality standards of the EPA and the Department of Health.Verified against the official source
• Meeting the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and having adequate access installations and sanitary services for people with physical disabilities.Verified against the official source
• Locating the building or premises where environmental conditions do not adversely influence the quality of the ice to be made, or the workers’ health and wellbeing, or constitute a public nuisance.Verified against the official source
• Having floors that are easily cleaned and of impervious material approved by the Department of Health, with enough slope for adequate drainage, and each drain fitted with traps against the entry of insects, rodents and other vermin.Verified against the official source
• Providing screening or any system effectively preventing insects from entering at all openings to the exterior; exterior doors opening outwards, fitted to the frame and the floor, with an adequate self-closing mechanism; and windows fitted to their frames.Verified against the official source
• Processing and packing ice for human consumption in premises or installations used exclusively for those purposes.Verified against the official source
• Building the storage tanks and the sanitary water-conveyance piping of approved, non-corrosive, non-toxic material, with no connections to other water systems, equipped for backflow prevention and duly vented; the piping must be self-draining and the potable water lines permanently identified.Verified against the official source
• Providing adequate sanitary services, conveniently located and separated for both sexes, with no direct communication with the ice manufacturing, processing, production, packing or storage areas, always provided with paper towel or mechanical hand drying, liquid soap and a bin.Verified against the official source
• Using only industrial-type machines to make, pack and seal the ice bags; the regulation’s definition includes the requirement that the packing and sealing machine be of the automatic type.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: Where the water must come from

   The water used in ice plants in Puerto Rico must come from a source approved for human consumption and from a public or private supply system built, operated and maintained in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations, in line with the water-quality standards set by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health. It is the first and shortest of the sections, and also the one that decides whether premises will do: with no approved source, there is no plant.

2. 2

   Step 2: The location and the access

   Every building or premises used as an ice plant must meet the requirements of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, and have adequate access installations and sanitary services for people with physical disabilities. And it must be located where environmental conditions do not adversely influence the quality of the ice to be made, the workers’ health and wellbeing, or constitute a public nuisance. They are three separate criteria and are assessed together: the product’s quality, the health of whoever works there and the effect on the neighbourhood.

3. 3

   Step 3: The floors and the drains

   The floors of every area for manufacturing, processing, packing or storing ice, the sanitary services and the changing rooms, must be easily cleaned, so they can be kept in good repair and clean. They must be of impervious material approved by the Department of Health. They must have enough slope to ensure adequate drainage and prevent water pooling. And each drain must be fitted with traps against the entry of insects, rodents and other vermin.

4. 4

   Step 4: Openings, doors and windows

   All openings giving onto the ice plant’s exterior must be fitted with screening or any system effectively preventing insects from entering. Doors giving onto the building’s exterior must open outwards and fit the frame and the floor; windows must fit their frames. And every door giving onto the plant’s exterior must be fitted with an adequate self-closing mechanism. These are construction details, not operating ones: best resolved before the equipment goes in.

5. 5

   Step 5: Exclusive premises and protected light

   Ice for human consumption must be processed and packed in premises or installations used exclusively for those purposes, and the water it is made with must come from a supply and system approved by the Department of Health. That exclusivity is a business decision before it is a compliance one: the same premises cannot be doing something else. And the ice manufacturing, processing, packing or storage areas must be adequately lit at all times, with lamps or bulbs fitted with protectors during the plant’s operation, except where there is equivalent natural lighting.

6. 6

   Step 6: Tanks, piping and the distinctive-colour paint

   The sinks, tanks and other equipment used for cleaning and disinfecting utensils must be kept in good repair and clean. The storage tanks and the sanitary water-conveyance piping must be built of an approved, non-corrosive or non-toxic material, and must have no connections to other water systems; they must also be equipped for backflow prevention and duly vented. The supply’s equipment and water-conveyance piping must be adequately designed, installed and maintained in good repair and clean, and the piping must be self-draining. And the potable water systems’ piping must be permanently identified, using methods such as paint of a distinctive colour making it easily distinguishable from piping carrying non-potable water.

7. 7

   Step 7: Drains do not discharge on the floor

   The equipment’s drain lines must not discharge water onto the ground surface or in the work areas. The used-water, waste and other discharge piping must be sited, installed and maintained so there is no risk whatever of contaminating the ice, the equipment or the utensils. And all used water must be disposed of through the sanitary sewer or a system approved by the Department, which must be built, operated and maintained under the applicable sanitary laws and regulations.

8. 8

   Step 8: The toilets and handwashing

   Every ice plant must be provided with adequate sanitary services, conveniently located and separated for both sexes. The sanitary services must have no direct communication with the ice manufacturing, processing, production, packing or storage areas. They must be kept clean and in good repair, with adequate lighting and ventilation, and must always be provided with paper towel or a mechanical hand-drying system, liquid soap and a bin. And handwashing installations must be provided in the processing area and inside the toilets’ premises or in an area accessible to them. A note on the source: that sentence is printed "deberán adecuada iluminación y ventilados adecuadamente", with the verb missing; we publish what the sentence unambiguously requires and report the gap rather than inventing the missing word.

9. 9

   Step 9: The industrial-type machine and automatic sealing

   The rule’s last provision is the one that changes a business the most. Only industrial-type machines may be used to make, pack and seal the ice bags. And the regulation defines the term within its own text: an industrial-type machine is the set of equipment needed to make, store, pack and seal the ice bags, thereby reducing possible contamination due to mishandling and human contact; and the definition includes the requirement that the packing and sealing machine be of the automatic type. That is: hand packing does not comply with the rule, and that requirement must be budgeted for from the start.

These requirements are checked within the Health Licence process before OGPe and in the Department of Health’s inspections, which is what approves the floors’ impervious material and the water supply and system. The rule also refers to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency’s water-quality standards, to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act for access, and to the applicable sanitary laws and regulations for the used-water disposal system.

• Packing and sealing the ice bags by hand instead of with an industrial-type machine with automatic packing and sealing.
• Sharing the premises with another activity: ice for human consumption goes in installations used exclusively for those purposes.
• Using water not from a source approved for human consumption or from a system meeting the EPA’s and the Department of Health’s standards.
• Installing floors that are not of impervious material approved by the Department of Health, or without enough slope to drain.
• Leaving drains without traps against the entry of insects, rodents and other vermin.
• Installing exterior doors that open inwards, do not fit the frame and the floor, or lack a self-closing mechanism.
• Leaving openings to the exterior without screening or a system effectively preventing insects from entering.
• Using unprotected bulbs in the manufacturing, processing, packing or storage areas.
• Connecting the tanks or the sanitary piping to other water systems, or leaving them without backflow prevention and without venting.
• Installing piping that is not self-draining, or not permanently identifying the potable water piping.
• Discharging the equipment’s drain lines onto the ground surface or in the work areas.
• Placing the toilets with direct communication with the ice areas, or without separating them for both sexes.
• Leaving the toilets without paper towel or mechanical drying, liquid soap and a bin.
• Not providing handwashing in the processing area besides that of the toilets.
• Siting the plant where environmental conditions affect the ice’s quality, the workers’ health, or constitute a public nuisance.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Permit Management Office

  ogpe

  ogpe.pr.gov

• Department of Health

  salud

  www.salud.pr.gov