FRP Grating, Platforms, and Handrail for Pharmaceutical and Food Manufacturing
Pharmaceutical and food manufacturing facilities are governed by hygiene standards that make material selection for secondary structures a regulatory question as well as an engineering one. Walkway grating over process tanks and conveyors, mezzanine platforms in production areas, and handrail at working-at-height locations all sit in environments where the material they are made from must not contribute contamination to the product below, must withstand frequent cleaning with aggressive chemical agents, and must not corrode in the wet, humid conditions of a production facility in ways that create corrosion particle risk in the production zone. Steel grating and platforms in these environments are routinely painted or coated to resist the cleaning chemicals and humidity of the production area, and that coating degrades, chips, and requires maintenance. FRP grating, platforms, and handrail require no coating, carry no corrosion risk in wet cleaning environments, and do not generate the paint or rust particles that make steel secondary structures a contamination hazard in GMP and food-safe production areas.
Published by Reinforce Technology | 24 October 2026
The UK pharmaceutical sector contributes over £33 billion annually to the economy and operates under Good Manufacturing Practice regulations that govern every aspect of the production environment, including the secondary structures that personnel use to access, inspect, and maintain process equipment (ABPI, 2024). The UK food and drink manufacturing sector is the largest manufacturing sector in the country by turnover, and it operates under food safety legislation that places equivalent obligations on manufacturers to prevent physical contamination of food products during production. In both sectors, secondary structural materials in the production environment are not a peripheral specification decision: they are part of the regulatory compliance framework for the facility, and the material choices made at the design or refurbishment stage carry consequences for product quality, inspection outcomes, and the maintenance programme for the production asset.
Contamination Risk: Why Steel Coatings Fail the Production Environment Test
The primary contamination risk that steel secondary structures present in pharmaceutical and food production environments is not corrosion of the steel itself, but degradation of the coating system applied to protect it. Painted or epoxy-coated steel grating and platform structures in production areas with frequent wet cleaning, temperature cycling between cold rooms and ambient production spaces, and the mechanical contact of cleaning equipment and personnel traffic shed coating particles progressively across the service life of the installation. Those particles fall onto product, product contact surfaces, and packaging below. In a GMP-regulated pharmaceutical production area or a food-safe manufacturing environment, coating particle contamination from overhead structures is a reportable quality event and, if undetected, a product safety issue.
FRP grating and platform structures have no coating to degrade. The colour, chemical resistance, and surface finish of an FRP grating panel or platform section are properties of the resin matrix throughout the full cross-section of the material, not of a surface layer applied to a steel substrate. There is no paint to chip, no epoxy to crack under thermal cycling, and no zinc to shed in the wet cleaning environments of production facilities. The contamination risk profile of FRP secondary structures above process lines and tanks in pharmaceutical and food manufacturing is fundamentally different from that of coated steel: there is no particle generation mechanism driven by coating degradation, because there is no coating (IntechOpen, 2022).
Chemical Cleaning Agent Resistance in GMP Environments
Pharmaceutical and food manufacturing facilities clean their production environments with chemical agents that are selected for their effectiveness against biological contamination: sodium hypochlorite solutions, peracetic acid, quaternary ammonium compounds, caustic soda, and other oxidising and alkaline cleaning agents are routinely used in CIP (clean-in-place) systems and manual cleaning programmes in both sectors. Those cleaning agents are aggressive to many structural materials. Coated steel requires that the coating system be chemically compatible with every cleaning agent used in the area, and compatibility testing and coating respecification becomes necessary when cleaning agent formulations change or when a production area is repurposed for a different product requiring a different cleaning protocol.
FRP in vinyl ester resin is resistant to the cleaning agents commonly used in pharmaceutical and food production environments, including hypochlorite solutions, peracetic acid, and caustic soda at the concentrations applied in production cleaning programmes. The resistance is inherent to the resin chemistry rather than dependent on a compatible coating, and it is not affected by changes to cleaning agent formulation or concentration within the ranges typical of GMP and food-safe cleaning programmes. For facility managers managing cleaning validation and the material compatibility documentation that GMP inspections require, FRP secondary structures simplify the compatibility record and remove the respecification requirement that arises when coated steel structures are exposed to new cleaning agents (ScienceDirect, 2023).
Non-Sparking in Solvent and Flammable Vapour Areas
Pharmaceutical manufacturing involves organic solvents at multiple points in the synthesis and formulation process. Ethanol, isopropanol, acetone, and other flammable solvents are present in manufacturing areas where secondary structural materials may be installed within or adjacent to classified hazardous areas. The installation and modification of secondary structures in those areas, including cutting, drilling, and bolting operations during construction or maintenance, carries an ignition risk if the structural material generates sparks on contact with cutting tools or on accidental impact.
FRP is non-sparking. It can be cut and drilled with standard tools without generating the metallic sparks that steel produces, removing one category of ignition risk from installation and maintenance operations in pharmaceutical production areas where solvent vapour may be present. In food manufacturing, the non-sparking property of FRP is relevant in grain handling, flour milling, and spray drying areas where combustible dust creates an explosion risk that the spark-generating properties of steel tools and structures must be managed against. The non-sparking characteristic of FRP grating, handrail, and platform structures is a passive safety property of the material that applies throughout its service life, without requiring active management or specialist tooling for routine maintenance operations.
Open-Mesh Grating for Hygiene and Drainage in Production Areas
FRP moulded grating in 38x38mm or 50x50mm open mesh allows cleaning fluids, wash-down water, and process spillage to drain freely through the grating surface and away from the walkway area, rather than pooling on a solid floor surface and creating a slip and hygiene risk. In food production areas where wet processing, wash-down, and regular floor cleaning are routine, open-mesh grating on elevated walkways and platforms over process equipment eliminates the drainage problem that solid floor grating surfaces and steel checker-plate platforms create. The open mesh also allows visual inspection of the area below the walkway without requiring the grating panel to be lifted, and the drainage of cleaning fluid through the mesh prevents the ponding of chemical cleaning agents on the platform surface that can concentrate and damage the platform material over time.
The anti-slip gritted top surface of FRP moulded grating panels provides the high slip resistance required for walkway surfaces in wet production environments. In food manufacturing areas where floors are regularly wet from wash-down and process water, and where personnel carry product or equipment that limits their ability to react to a slip, the anti-slip performance of FRP grating is a safety specification that the Health and Safety Executive's guidance on slip and trip risk in food manufacturing identifies as appropriate for elevated walkway and platform applications in wet production areas.
FRP Products for Pharmaceutical and Food Manufacturing
Reinforce Technology supplies FRP moulded grating in 38x38mm and 50x50mm mesh for production area walkways and platform surfaces, FRP pultruded structural profiles for mezzanine platform and equipment access structures, and FRP modular handrail systems for production area fall protection. Products are available in vinyl ester resin for enhanced chemical cleaning agent resistance, with anti-slip gritted top surfaces on grating panels and a full range of fixings and support systems. Contact Reinforce Technology to discuss specification for your pharmaceutical or food manufacturing facility project.
FRP resin system selection for pharmaceutical and food manufacturing applications should be confirmed against the specific cleaning agents, concentrations, and temperatures applicable to the production environment. Material compatibility with the facility's cleaning validation programme should be verified prior to specification. FRP structural performance in the specific loading and span conditions of the project should be confirmed with the manufacturer. FRP products for food contact or direct product exposure applications should be assessed against the applicable food contact material regulations for the specific application.
References
ABPI (2024) The Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures 2024. Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. Available at: https://www.abpi.org.uk/publications/the-pharmaceutical-industry-in-figures-2024/ [Accessed: 24 October 2026]. [UK pharmaceutical sector annual output exceeding £33 billion; GMP regulatory framework governing production environment material selection; facility design and refurbishment requirements under MHRA Good Manufacturing Practice guidelines; secondary structural material specification in regulated pharmaceutical production environments].
IntechOpen (2022) 'Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) in Civil Engineering', in IntechOpen Engineering Series. Available at: https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/84203 [Accessed: 24 October 2026]. [FRP grating and structural profiles with no coating degradation or particle contamination risk; vinyl ester resin resistance to chemical cleaning agents including hypochlorite and caustic solutions; non-sparking; open-mesh drainage properties; anti-slip gritted top surface; 70-75% lighter than steel at equivalent section depth; no corrosion in wet production and cleaning environments].
ScienceDirect (2023) 'Chemical resistance of vinyl ester and polyester FRP composites to industrial cleaning agents', Polymer Degradation and Stability, 214, pp. 1-12. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141391023004567 [Accessed: 24 October 2026]. [Vinyl ester FRP resistance to sodium hypochlorite, peracetic acid, quaternary ammonium compounds, and caustic soda at GMP and food manufacturing cleaning concentrations; comparison with epoxy-coated steel compatibility under equivalent chemical cleaning exposure; resin degradation rates and service life in pharmaceutical and food production cleaning environments].
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