The requirements for flooring in food manufacturing facilities seem clear and straight forward, but achieving 100% compliance in the abattoir and meat processing industry is more than just a challenge. Let’s cover off on what the floor alone must contend with.
Constant wet conditions
Production areas, boning rooms, kill and slaughter floors are often covered by water slurries of animal waste, animal blood, fat, and other by-products.
Heavy foot, forklift and machinery traffic
With the pressure to increase efficiencies ever there, the traffic from foot, forklifts and machinery steadily increases as well, putting the floor under additional pressure.
Bacteria growth
Abattoirs and meat processing facilities provide the perfect conditions for bacteria to thrive. Wet, warm, protein-rich, what else could bacteria ask for?
Chemical exposure
Most meat processing plants use strong alkaline cleaners in their operations due to their effectiveness on grease, oil, and other organic matter. Some plants use live steam to clean and degrease, which can subject the flooring to dramatic thermal shock resulting in the possible spalling of concrete.
Acid exposure
Animal fat, oils, animal and vegetable proteins, and various other proteins will attack exposed concrete due to their acidic nature.
Choosing the right flooring solution that will stand up to all of this and provide a non-slip surface is vital for long term success. While we offer both epoxy resins and polyurethane cement systems, our recommendation for abattoirs and meat processing facilities is a polyurethane cement system.
So why polyurethane cement over epoxy resin?
A couple of reasons. Resistance to chemicals and acids is far greater, as is it’s long-term durability to heavy foot and forklift traffic. A high non-slip profile can be achieved without increasing the risk of bacteria growth on the floor. While epoxy resin floors often look better than polyurethane cement systems, the system benefits for an abattoir or meat processing facility are far less than a polyurethane cement system like SteriFloor Stärke.
