Rules of behaviour for cleanroom personnel

To ensure that the cleanroom can keep its air cleanliness class according to ISO, it is necessary to check all factors in the cleanroom for their cleanroom suitability and optimise them if necessary, as any impact on the cleanroom has an effect on the cleanliness of the processes and the quality of the products. In addition to machines, assemblies and the individual processes in the cleanroom, the personnel working there make a significant contribution to the cleanliness of the room. In this blog post, we provide an insight into the most important rules of behaviour that employees need to observe when working in cleanroom conditions.

Staff in the cleanroom

Employees in the cleanroom are considered one of the biggest sources of contamination. In particular, particles on the human body, such as skin flakes, hair or bacterial particles, can impair the cleanliness class of the room. These individual particles reach the clean environment through the movement of employees and can get into the processes and onto the product via the air flow.

In addition to cleanroom-compatible clothing, the behaviour of the personnel themselves also plays a decisive role in maintaining the air cleanliness class of the cleanroom. Regular training of ALL employees, from operators to management, is the essential requirement for this.

How should employees behave?

The rules for correct behaviour in the clean environment should be consistently maintained by every employee, visitor and also the management itself. The rules can therefore be roughly categorised into seven different key topics:

• Personnel: One of the most important rules for working in a cleanroom is that only trained employees should work in the cleanroom. In addition, the number of employees must be limited to the bare minimum and when not working or simply observing the processes, they must avoid spending time in critical areas.

• Personal items: Taking personal items such as jewellery, food or handbags into the clean workplace or cleanroom is prohibited. The use of cosmetics of any kind (almost all of these products are powder-based) is also prohibited in the cleanroom. Smoking is prohibited and should also be avoided immediately before entering the cleanroom.

• Food and beverage: It is also prohibited to take food and drink into the cleanroom. However, in order to provide employees with quick access to drinking water, it is advisable to install a water dispenser in the personnel entrance.

• Motion: Fast and intensive movements lead to higher particle emissions. Employees must therefore move carefully in the clean working environment.

• Diseases: Coughing or sneezing should never be done in the direction of the critical work area and should be avoided. If an employee is ‘ sick and unfit to work in the cleanroom’, they should be deployed elsewhere, outside the cleanroom.

• Material: No materials or objects other than those required for production should be stored in the workstation area.

• Miscellaneous: In order to clean the clean workstation, only cleaning materials and agents intended for this purpose are to be used by employees. Only ballpoint or fibre-tip pens (no pencils) are permitted for sketches or documentation and as little paper as possible should be used in the cleanroom (if necessary, use cleanroom paper if possible).

⇒ The management decides on all these rules in concrete terms.

If these and other important rules of behaviour are observed and consistently adhered to by trained personnel when working in the cleanroom, severe contamination by people in the cleanroom can be minimised.

In addition to ensuring compliance with these rules of behaviour in the cleanroom, the dress code and knowledge of the processes involved in entering and exiting the cleanroom also make a significant contribution to ensuring the air purity quality of the room.

If you would like to find out more about ‘Behaviour in a clean environment’ and read up on the subject again, download our free whitepaper!