Juggling training

Training is something that you should ‘want’ to do…OFTEN!

BY JOEL DINSDALE QUALITY ASSURANCE COORDINATOR, VEGETABLESWA

Primary production of pre-processed fruit and vegetables as a very dynamic space in 2020. In my opinion, it can be described as juggling.

Currently, there are so many issues (balls) in play — many of which we touch on in this publication) and that was before the outbreak of COVID-19 came into the picture. This means that as producers, we are ‘juggling many balls’ in order to meet market requirements. With lots of balls in the air, it’s possible that these balls may be dropped along the line. So how do we keep these hypothetical balls in the air? The answer is by improving our knowledge. What’s the best way to do this? By completing training. I’m not sure who said it but “knowledge equals power” certainly is true in the fresh produce game in 2020.

So, what is training?

The Collins English Dictionary defines training as “the process of learning the skills that you need for a particular job or activity”. This certainly applies to Quality Assurance and Food Safety. If we look at all of the GFSI food safety systems that fit under the HARPS Scheme, you can see that Training is a hugely important element that needs to be covered in order to demonstrate compliance against the applicable system(s). In Freshcare Food Safety & Quality Edition 4.1, all of the training requirements are clearly outlined in the Standard under element M3 (Training). Perhaps the most important element of training is completing Freshcare FSQ4.1 training as this underpins your knowledge in the system (and in turn, the training) requirements. According to the Standard (which references Appendix AM-3 on page 9) — a business is compliant to the Freshcare Training requirement (M3.1) if “management representative completes approved Freshcare Food Safety & Quality Training…evidence is kept”. This can be FSQ3, FSQ4 or FSQ4.1 training. (NOTE: you must be compliant to M3.2 requirements in order to be compliant to the whole M3 module of Freshcare. Check the Standard for details.) So, you’ve ascertained that you’ve got an Edition 3 training certificate on file (so your compliant). Why should you refresh your training if your already compliant? The answer is, because you need to constantly build on your knowledge base (by training). Remember… ‘knowledge equals power’. You can’t run a marathon without first doing some training. In this analogy, Freshcare (or any other GFSI food safety quality assurance system) is the marathon. You can’t expect to finish it without first putting in the work… i.e. training. Training is something that you should ‘want’ to do…OFTEN! In my role as the Quality Assurance Coordinator at vegetablesWA, I have witnessed first-hand how refresher training has empowered and improved outcomes for growers, making them better jugglers. Late last year, a grower (for the purpose of this we’ll call him Mr Stuck) went to audit and had a really poor outcome for a number of reasons (in short…he was juggling and he dropped the Freshcare ball). As a result, he contacted Truyen Vo (Regional Development Officer, vegetablesWA) for help. Truyen and I visited Mr Stuck on farm and conducted a review of the audit and the system to understand where we could help. We decided that although the grower had previously completed Freshcare training, it had been quite a number of years since he had refreshed his knowledge base (something like five years since he’d completed training). A couple of weeks later, he was in the office completing an

FSQ4 training session with us in a one-onone capacity. I’d love to say that the session was exciting…(it wasn’t — QA never is), but it did manage to prime Mr Stuck with the latest knowledge and facts relating to Freshcare. Yes, it took time and it pulled Mr Stuck away from his farming operation for the day, but…as with any good story (spoiler alert), this one results a happy ending! Mr Stuck was able to prepare for audit on his own. With Truyen’s help, he arranged another audit…and he was certified a short time later with zero non-conformances. But wait…there’s more… Mr Stuck is a grower whom English is his second language. What an achievement. Most of this can be attributed to the fact that refresher training was conducted to improve the grower’s knowledge base. Jumping back to address the ‘juggling balls’ part of this piece. There is a plethora of training available to management and staff of fresh produce businesses. Not just for GFSI Food Safety Systems, but also for COVID-19, Export, Soil, Biosecurity. This list is endless. Due to the outbreak and uncertainty worldwide, thanks to COVID-19, vegetablesWA have embarked on a new strategy to continue our work engaging with growers across the state. Part of our mandate is to provide assistance while adhering to social distancing measures. This has meant that we (along with many other organisations) are beginning to present information, training and content in the form of webinars (that become YouTube videos on our channel) and online content. Side note, Freshcare has recently launched its eLearning FSQ4.1 which is available to all growers looking to build their knowledge base. Perhaps there isn’t currently any training in the relevant space applicable to your business? Why not get in contact with us, as we can create the content that our members need to operate. Alternatively, we can find an expert to empower the growing community of the back of your request?

MORE INFORMATION

Contact Joel Dinsdale, Quality Assurance Coordinator, on 0417 857 675 or email

joel.dinsdale@vegetableswa.com.au

Maintaining Freshcare Certification during COVID

BY ANGELA STEAIN EXTENSION AND ENGAGEMENT MANAGER, FRESHCARE

Freshcare Certification Bodies have procedures in place to ensure that businesses can sustain their certification to Freshcare throughout the COVID-19 restrictions.

Businesses due for an audit now, or who have a certificate that expires in the next few months should refer to the following information, to maintain their Freshcare certification.

Audit due or scheduled

• If it is possible for the auditor to conduct your on-site audit, it should be undertaken when scheduled • If restrictions do not permit your audit to be undertaken, Freshcare

Certification Bodies have provisions in place to provide certificate extensions up six months as outlined below.

Certificate extensions up to six months

• Freshcare certificate extensions are issued by your

Certification Body • Certification Bodies will request evidence from the business prior to granting a certificate extension • Certificate extensions are based on a risk assessment of the business/situation as conducted by the Certification Body • Records of certificate extensions are maintained by your

Certification Body and updated in

FreshcareOnline • Certificate extensions will extend the certificate expiry of your current certificate only. This will be evident via an update to the expiry date and new reference number on your certificate You must schedule a date for your recertification audit to be conducted before the certificate extension expires.

Certificate extensions can not be provided

• If the participating business account remains unpaid or the previous audit is still open • If the business' reasoning to not have an audit undertaken is not justified. If the business is no longer operating, has been recently sold or transferred • If the business does not confirm that they will continue with

Freshcare certification after the extension. If there is a complaint against the business or food safety incident, that requires investigation or on-site visit.

MORE INFORMATION

The Freshcare website provides links to further program information, training resources, news and industry resources.

Information and contact details for the Certification Bodies approved to audit the Freshcare Standards can also be found on the website. Visit: www.freshcare.com.au