Why electrical safety compliance in food manufacturing cannot be treated as a tick box exercise
Electrical safety compliance in food manufacturing is not simply about passing the next audit. It is about protecting people, product, and production, as well as ensuring health and safety and the well-being of employees, in plants where a single failure can halt an entire line, spoil high-value stock, and damage brand reputation. When auditors walk your site, they are looking far beyond paperwork. They are assessing whether your electrical infrastructure, control systems, and maintenance regime genuinely control risk.
In temperature-critical environments such as blast freezers, cold stores, and high-care production areas, the tolerance for electrical failure is close to zero. A loose termination or ageing control panel is not just a defect. It is a direct threat to food safety, uptime, and insurance compliance.
💡 Key insight: Auditors are no longer satisfied with evidence that systems were compliant on the day they were installed. They want to see that your electrical infrastructure is being actively managed across its lifecycle, with clear visibility of risk, condition, and obsolescence, and that you continue to meet safety standards as part of ongoing compliance.
This guide explains what auditors look for in food and cold chain environments, the typical failure modes they see, and how modern, well engineered systems - supported by preventive maintenance and proper documentation - make compliance and uptime easier to achieve.
What electrical safety auditors look for in food manufacturing plants
Although every auditor has their own approach, most assessments in food manufacturing follow the same underlying logic, guided by industry standards and work regulations. They trace the chain from standards, safety standards, and procedures, through physical infrastructure, to day to day practice on the plant floor. Think of it as four lenses: documentation, infrastructure, operation, and evidence of ongoing control.
1. Documentation, standards and evidence of control
A typical electrical safety audit in a food facility will start with documentation. The auditor is looking for a clear and current view of how your systems have been designed, tested, and maintained against recognised standards such as BS 7671, BS EN 60204-1 and PUWER, alongside any sector-specific retailer or customer requirements, as well as relevant safety regulations. Record keeping is essential for compliance, ensuring that all inspections, repairs, and testing are properly documented.
Up-to-date Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICRs) with closed out actions
Panel schematics, electrical schematics, and as-built drawings that match the physical installation
PUWER assessments for machinery with integrated electrical and control systems
Records of periodic testing, thermal imaging, and corrective actions
Change control records for PLC and SCADA software modifications
Clear reporting and thorough record keeping are important for both clients and auditors, supporting audit readiness and demonstrating compliance.
⚠ Common weakness: Food factories often invest in large projects, but fail to maintain drawings, software backups, and test records as systems evolve. From an auditor’s perspective, poor documentation and lack of good practice in documentation and record keeping is itself a compliance risk.
2. Condition and design of electrical installations
Once the paperwork has been reviewed, attention moves to the physical electrical installation. In food manufacturing, auditors are particularly alert to environments with moisture, aggressive cleaning regimes, and corrosive atmospheres. It is essential to assess existing systems for compliance and safety. They will focus on:
Suitability of cable types, containment, and enclosures for washdown and hygiene areas
Ingress protection (IP) ratings for junction boxes, lights, and control devices
Signs of overheating, damaged insulation, or overloaded circuits
Earthing, bonding, and fault protection in line with BS 7671
Segregation between power, control, and low-voltage instrumentation cables
Identification of potential issues during inspections to prevent hazards
Timely repairs of any identified faults or deficiencies are necessary to maintain compliance and ensure ongoing safety. Robust, compliant installations are essential for electrical safety compliance in food manufacturing.
Auditors expect to see installations that are clearly industrial grade - not domestic or light commercial solutions stretched into heavy-duty service. Partnering with a specialist in electrical installations for industrial and food manufacturing environments helps ensure that baseline.
3. Control panels, MCCs, and machine control systems
Control panels are a focal point in any audit, as they bring together power distribution, control logic, programmable logic controllers, and safety circuits. In a food factory, ageing or undocumented panels are a common source of non conformity.
Compliance of panels with BS EN 60204-1 and relevant machine standards
Internal layout, segregation, and labelling of components for safe maintenance
Presence of appropriate protection, isolation, and emergency stop circuits
Consideration of functional safety and the integrity of safety circuits
Clear, legible panel schedules and terminal identification
Evidence that modifications have been properly engineered and documented
Maintaining high standards in panel design and documentation is essential for compliance and operational reliability.
Panels that have been extended repeatedly, with mixed component ranges and no current drawings, are likely to attract observations or non conformities. Modern, well designed control panels and MCCs make it much easier to demonstrate compliance, perform maintenance safely, and recover quickly from faults.
4. PLC, SCADA and software lifecycle management
More and more of your electrical safety posture is now embedded in software. Interlocks, alarms, permissive logic, and shutdown sequences are all implemented in PLCs and SCADA systems, which play a critical role in process control and continuously monitor critical functions to ensure safety and compliance. Auditors are interested in how you manage this software, not only how it was designed originally.
Who is responsible for PLC and SCADA changes, and how they are authorised
Whether logic changes are tested, documented, and backed up securely
How cybersecurity and remote access are controlled
Whether obsolete hardware and unsupported software platforms are being managed
How data is used to determine when software updates or changes are needed
A structured approach to PLC and SCADA software development and lifecycle control reduces compliance risk and aligns your plant with emerging industrial cyber standards. Effective software management also improves efficiency in plant operations by optimising process control and reducing downtime.
5. Refrigeration, temperature monitoring, and alarm systems
In food and cold chain operations, refrigeration and temperature monitoring are critical control points. Robust refrigeration and alarm systems are vital for overall safety in food manufacturing. Auditors want to see that the electrical and control systems supporting these functions are robust, monitored, and capable of withstanding faults without uncontrolled temperature excursions.
Reliable power supplies, protection, and discrimination for the refrigeration plant
Redundant or fail-safe temperature monitoring of key product and room points
Auditable alarm systems with clear escalation routes out of hours, which help prevent accidents related to temperature excursions or equipment failure
Data logging that supports both food safety and electrical fault diagnostics
Modern refrigeration control and temperature monitoring systems make it easier to show auditors that you do not just meet HACCP and retailer standards on paper, but have real world resilience in place.
📊 Risk reality: In many investigations after major cold store incidents, root causes have included relatively simple electrical defects - loose terminations, ageing contactors, or failed alarms - that went undetected because there was no structured preventive maintenance or monitoring regime.
Key risks and failure modes auditors see in food plants
Auditors are trained to think in terms of credible worst case scenarios. The specific risks and failure modes they look for can vary depending on the type of equipment and plant layout. In a food manufacturing environment, certain electrical failure modes appear repeatedly across different sites and sectors. Identifying potential issues early through regular inspections and maintenance can be time-consuming, but it is critical for ensuring electrical safety compliance in food manufacturing.
Overheating conductors and terminations
High loads, cyclic operation, and vibration from machinery can loosen terminations and increase resistance at joints. In refrigerated environments, condensation and corrosion add to the problem. Left unchecked, these points overheat, leading to insulation damage, nuisance tripping, or in extreme cases, fire.
Thermal imaging is one of the most effective diagnostic tools for identifying these issues early. A structured programme of preventive maintenance and thermal imaging gives auditors confidence that you are actively managing hidden defects, not waiting for them to reveal themselves as breakdowns. Performing timely repairs on identified faults is an essential part of preventive maintenance, ensuring ongoing electrical safety compliance in food manufacturing.
Obsolete, undocumented, or modified control panels
Panels that have grown organically over many years are common in food plants. Upgrading or modifying existing systems presents significant challenges, especially when mismatched components, poor labelling, and missing drawings are involved. Maintaining thorough record keeping of inspections, repairs, and testing is essential for compliance, as it ensures detailed documentation is available for audits and safety assurance. From an auditor’s perspective, lack of proper records and documentation creates risk both for operators and for contractors working inside panels.
❌ Common mistake: Treating a panel upgrade as a like for like swap of hardware. Without reviewing protection settings, circuit segregation, and safety functions against BS EN 60204-1, you can end up with a shiny new enclosure that still fails a compliance audit.
Single points of failure in refrigeration and temperature control
Many historical installations have single points of failure in power supplies, control circuits, and alarm paths. A single relay, breaker, or network switch can remove visibility of multiple rooms or packs at once, leading to disruptions in business operations and potentially compromising product quality. Auditors are becoming more aware of these systemic risks, especially in high volume cold chain operations.
Modern designs use selective discrimination, segmented control networks, and independent systems that monitor critical points to ensure that one electrical fault does not become a plant wide incident.
Poor segregation between food safety and maintenance priorities
In some sites, production pressures lead to bypassed interlocks, defeated guards, or temporary fixes that never get removed. Employees play a crucial role in maintaining electrical safety compliance in food manufacturing, and their commitment to integrity is essential for following proper procedures and upholding a culture of safety. Auditors will look for cultural clues - taped over switches, handwritten notes on panels, or undocumented jumpers on safety circuits - that suggest engineering decisions are not consistently aligned with safety and compliance.
⚡ Critical point: Every temporary electrical modification needs a defined owner, end date, and sign off process. Without this, short term fixes quietly become permanent features of your plant - and serious liabilities during an audit or incident investigation.
How to prepare your plant for electrical safety audits
The most reliable way to satisfy auditors while protecting uptime is to treat electrical safety as an engineering system, not a paperwork exercise. Preparing for audits requires a dedicated team of professionals who collaborate to ensure all aspects of electrical safety compliance in food manufacturing are addressed. JBB’s methodology - Assess → Modernise → Protect → Prevent → Support - provides a structured framework to move from unknown risk to robust, audit ready infrastructure, with a focus on ensuring compliance and maintaining smooth operations.
📋 JBB electrical compliance framework: Assess → Modernise → Protect → Prevent → Support
Assess: Map your current electrical infrastructure, panels, PLCs, and maintenance regime. Identify compliance gaps, lifecycle issues, and critical loads.
Modernise: Upgrade weak points such as obsolete panels, undersized supplies, and unsupported PLC hardware with modern, compliant designs.
Protect: Optimise protection, discrimination, and earthing so that faults are contained and do not cause unnecessary plant wide trips.
Prevent: Implement structured preventive maintenance, thermal imaging, and testing to catch defects before they cause breakdowns.
Support: Put in place documentation, software backups, and a critical spares strategy so that when faults do occur, recovery is fast and controlled.
Step 1 - Run an electrical compliance and condition assessment
Start with a focused assessment of your production and refrigeration electrical systems. The aim is to understand what you have, where it is in its lifecycle, and how it stacks up against current standards and best practice. This assessment will help determine compliance gaps and priorities. This should cover:
Distribution boards, submains, and major feeders
Control panels, MCCs, and package equipment controls
PLC and SCADA platforms, networking, and remote access
Refrigeration plant controls and temperature monitoring systems
Existing EICRs, thermal surveys, and PUWER assessments
👉 Practical starting point: Focus your initial assessment on the lines, chillers, and cold rooms that would cause the greatest operational and financial impact if lost. This provides rapid risk reduction while building a scalable model for the rest of the site.
Step 2 - Prioritise modernisation of high risk panels and systems
Use the assessment to prioritise upgrades. Typically, this will mean addressing obsolete control panels, overloaded boards, and unsupported PLC platforms first. Modernising these systems not only improves compliance but also enhances efficiency and productivity by reducing downtime and preventing disruptions. The goal is not to replace everything at once, but to remove structural weak points that repeatedly generate defects and observations.
Working with a specialist in control panel design and manufacture and PLC and SCADA software development ensures that new systems are engineered to high standards for compliance, maintainability, and future expansion.
Step 3 - Embed preventive maintenance and thermal imaging
Once your infrastructure is stable, the focus shifts to preventing future breakdowns. A robust programme of preventive maintenance and thermal imaging will typically include:
☑ Preventive maintenance checklist for food plants
Scheduled inspections of distribution boards and control panels
Performing repairs during inspections to address minor issues promptly and prevent accidents
Annual or bi annual thermal imaging of key loads and terminations
Regular testing of earth fault paths and protective devices
Functional tests of safety circuits, interlocks, and emergency stops
Routine verification of alarm paths and out of hours callout processes
Periodic review of EICR and PUWER actions to ensure closure
Step 4 - Align documentation, software backups, and spares
To give auditors confidence and to protect your own operations, every critical system should have current schematics, verified software backups, and identified critical spares. Comprehensive record keeping and accurate reporting are essential for audit readiness, ensuring all inspections, repairs, and testing are properly documented and easily accessible. This reduces both the probability and the impact of failures.
JBB integrates testing and certification with documentation updates and critical spares planning, so that your asset register, drawings, and risk profile stay aligned.
Ready to see where your biggest electrical compliance and breakdown risks are? JBB’s Three Stage Compliance and Breakdown Prevention Assessment maps your plant, identifies high risk panels and systems, and gives you a prioritised roadmap for modernisation and preventive maintenance. Request a Compliance & Breakdown Prevention Assessment.
How modern systems improve reliability, compliance, and uptime
Modern electrical and control systems do not just make audits easier. They change the way your plant behaves on a day to day basis, leading to improvements in efficiency, productivity, and business operations. The result is fewer unplanned stoppages, better energy performance, and greater confidence in food safety controls.
Designed for washdown, hygiene, and environmental conditions
Panels, enclosures, and field devices designed specifically for food and cold environments are engineered to meet safety standards and comply with relevant safety standards, ensuring they resist corrosion, moisture ingress, and thermal cycling far better than generic equipment. Correct selection of IP ratings, materials, and mounting arrangements reduces degradation and defect rates over time.
Improved discrimination and fault containment
Well engineered protection schemes are essential to prevent accidents and maintain safety by ensuring that faults are cleared quickly at the right level, without unnecessary outages elsewhere. In a production or cold chain environment, this is the difference between a short interruption to one conveyor and a full line or site outage.
Integrated monitoring, alarms, and data for audit evidence
Modern systems generate data that supports both engineering and compliance. Systems that monitor conditions, support automated reporting, and facilitate thorough record keeping for audits are essential. Trend logs, alarm histories, and automated reports provide clear evidence that critical temperatures are controlled, alarms function as intended, and interventions are timely. This is exactly the kind of objective evidence auditors want to see.
💡 Pro tip: When you modernise panels or PLCs, build audit readiness into the design brief. That means labelled terminals, accessible test points, structured alarm philosophies, and clear segregation between safety, control, and monitoring functions.
Next steps - building an audit ready, failure resistant plant
Electrical safety compliance in food manufacturing is not a one off project. It is an ongoing engineering discipline that sits alongside food safety, hygiene, and quality. Following good practice in the design and management of safety-related systems, and having a dedicated team of professionals, is essential to maintain integrity in compliance efforts. Plants that consistently pass audits with minimal disruption treat compliance, uptime, and modernisation as one problem, not three separate ones.
Ready to move from reactive fixes to structured compliance and breakdown prevention? JBB Electrical specialises in industrial electrical installations, control panels, PLC and SCADA automation, refrigeration control, temperature monitoring, preventive maintenance, and testing and certification for food manufacturing and cold storage environments. Book your free Compliance & Breakdown Prevention Assessment to benchmark your plant and create a practical roadmap
Frequently asked questions
What risks does poor electrical safety compliance create in food manufacturing?
Poor electrical safety compliance exposes you to multiple risks at once - from electric shock and fire hazards, through unplanned downtime and product loss, to failed third party audits and insurance issues. In food manufacturing, an electrical fault is rarely just an engineering problem. It can compromise temperature control, hygiene barriers, and traceability, which directly affects food safety and brand reputation.
How does strong electrical compliance improve audit outcomes and uptime?
Strong compliance demonstrates that you understand your electrical risks and are managing them systematically. For auditors, clear documentation, modern panels, and structured maintenance show control and maturity. For operations, the same practices reduce breakdowns, shorten fault finding time, and allow planned interventions rather than last minute shutdowns. Compliance and uptime move together, not in opposition.
What practical measures should we take to be ready for the next audit?
Start by ensuring your EICRs, panel drawings, and PLC backups are current and accessible. Address known defects and observations, especially on high impact lines and cold rooms. Implement or strengthen preventive maintenance and thermal imaging, and make sure temporary fixes are either removed or properly engineered.