Corrective actions are a normal part of the third party audit process, and it can be expected that most growers will have at least one corrective action assigned to them. The question we have been hearing from growers repeatedly this season is, “Do I have to do anything about corrective actions if I pass the audit?” The answer is YES!
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August 22, 2014 Wes Kline and Meredith Melendez
Audit Ready: I Recieved Corrective Actions, Now What?!
August 5, 2014 Wes Kline and Meredith Melendez
Audit Ready: Worker Break Areas
The USDA GAPs and USDA Harmonized Third Party audits require that worker break areas be separate from where saleable product is handled.
The GAPs audit states “smoking and eating are confined to designated areas separate from where product is handled.” An auditor completing a GAPs audit will look to see that the break area is indeed separate from production areas and that workers are using the area as they should be. If personal items, such as lunch boxes, food items etc., are found in the production area the auditor will deduct points from the total GAPs audit score. In some cases the auditor may deem the risk of contamination too great and may stop the audit.
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July 18, 2014 Wes Kline and Meredith Melendez
Farm Food Safety: Hand Washing Stations
Hand washing stations are an important part of your farm food safety goals.
Stations must be located at all bathroom facilities, ideally outside of the bathroom and in public view. Research has shown that people are much more likely to wash their hands if someone is watching them. [Read more…]
July 11, 2014 Wes Kline and Meredith Melendez
Farm Food Safety: An Emergency Plan for your Portable Toilet
What would you do if your portable toilet had a spill? Operations that utilize portable toilets should have an emergency containment plan in place and all workers should be familiar with this plan.
The goal of this plan is to contain the spill to the immediate area around the portable toilet and to prevent contamination of production areas. In the case of a portable toilet spill, one acceptable plan would be to immediately call the portable toilet service company and to build an earthen dam around the spill area to prevent further movement of the spilled contents. Think about your portable toilet locations, how you would handle a spill situation and make sure that your workers are aware of the plan.
July 3, 2014 Wes Kline and Meredith Melendez
Farm Food Safety: Irrigation Water Sampling
Testing irrigation water for generic E. coli is something that every farm should do. Timing and frequency of this testing varies depending on your water source. Here is a cheat sheet: [Read more…]
July 2, 2014 Wes Kline and Meredith Melendez
Audit Ready:
Who Can Accompany You During A Third Party Audit?
Recently, a number of growers have asked:
“Who can accompany me during a third party food safety audit?”
Perhaps you had someone write your farm food safety plan for you or, you have a food safety consultant and you would like them to participate in or attend the audit.
The USDA weighed in on this question and stated:
” There are no written requirements restricting the number of individuals on an audit. We allow the auditor to make that decision as far as how many people they wish to accompany them. A consultant can accompany the auditor and act as an observer but may not act as a participant in the audit.”
If you would like someone to accompany with you during the audit be sure to ask the inspector where they stand on who may attend the audit with you.
