Pass your audit in nine easy steps

Audits are an operational requirement in the food and beverage manufacturing industry, but they can make even the most seasoned professional sweat a little.

Even the smallest infraction can result in low or failing scores, which in turn could see your factory having to halt operations for an extended period of time - severely impacting your bottom line. In addition, this time-consuming process requires multiple departments to work together, as auditors often look at processes that stretch across the entire operation.

To assist customers, Rentokil has put together a basic guideline of common audit actions to help you prepare, although it pays to remember that audit standards are constantly evolving as processes and technology develop.

The following steps will help you with basic compliance and food safety but need to be supplemented with your specific auditing requirements.

9 ESSENTIAL STEPS THAT CAN ASSIST YOU IN PASSING YOUR PEST CONTROL AUDIT

1. Ensure that a thorough pest risk

assessment is conducted across the entire site and that your contract stipulates specifics, including which pests will be treated for and the frequency of visits per pest. Not all pests have the same breeding cycle so you might need more scheduled visits for particular pests. Other areas that need to be assessed are pest history, building integrity, surrounding environment and audit requirements. 2. Clearly communicate which audit standards your organisation follows - along with any internal auditrequirements - to your pest control provider at the start of the contract period. 3. Action any pest control recommendations put forward by your provider as soon as you receive them, to better manage infestations. This proactive approach will contribute to positive audit findings. 4. Don't leave your audit planning for the last minute. 5. Notify your pest control provider of your audit date so that they can be on standby or on-site for the audit. 6. Review on-site documentation and organise it according to your audit requirements (if you are a Rentokil customer, myRentokil will have this information ready for you). 7. Walk the interior of your factory or warehouse and confirm that all interior pest control devices are indicated on the floor plan, identified correctly, and labelled with the correct pest control service information. Confirm that these devices are serviced as per the service schedule indicated on your contract, and are placed correctly in accordance with your auditing standards. For example,

Insect Light Traps ILT’s not above a food surface or at least 3m away from the production lines. 8. Walk the exterior of the facility and confirm that all exterior pest control devices are indicated on the floor plan,

identified correctly, and labelled with the correct pest control service information. Confirm that these devices are serviced as per the service schedule indicated on your contract and that devices are placed correctly in accordance with your auditing standards. For example, rodent bait stations have to be: - tamper-resistant, locked and secured to

the ground; - in good condition which means that they should not be broken or heavily chewed on and; - clean and free of decomposed rodents or other animals. 9. Conduct a final review of the interior and exterior of the facility and ensure that all pest control documentation is accessible via your online pest control reporting system (like myRentokil) or in a logbook binder that has been sorted into categories as per your audit requirements. Ensure that you are familiar with your pest control audit system or file as you will need to confidently talk your auditor through it and answer any questions. “Rentokil is here to help. As prominent leaders in the pest control industry, we form close partnerships with our customers as well as auditing and regulatory bodies, including the GFSI, AIB, YUM and BRC Global Standard to ensure that we are abreast of the latest audit standard changes and internal audit requirements,” concludes Nathalie Leblond category manager at Rentokil. •

Rentokil Initial – www.rentokil.co.za

When food is at the core of your business, nothing can be left to chance.

Pest problems disrupt production, hit revenue and pose major threats to compliance in the food industry. These are significant risks for any business, but with Rentokil on your side, you’ll stay firmly in control. We are trusted by our customers to deliver ground breaking solutions and expert advice to advance food safety standards.