USDA agent refuses to abide by our GMP's
Good afternoon,
I have read the topics regarding USDA agents in the building. We do not have one in the building continuously, but they are here some time each day. My issues is with GMPs. Our USDA does not think he has to abide by even the basics. He wears a wedding ring with a stone in it and a watch. He will not remove them or even wear gloves, because he says he doesn't touch product. He says he doesn't choose to come here, we ask him to. Therefore, he is not required to follow our rules. Another example, we do not allow hoods and strings, he continues to wear them.
What have others done in this situation? Am I wrong for asking him to comply?
Hi, OPizza;
No you are not wrong. If you are inspected to Title 9 CFR 416, then the inspector needs to follow your establishment's SSOP/GMP policy required by that very same code.
Everyone has a supervisor... :shades:
As I am sure everyone is aware how difficult the agent could make it for us. Management is hesitant to confront them so as to "keep the peace" and "not make waves".
As I am sure everyone is aware how difficult the agent could make it for us. Management is hesitant to confront them so as to "keep the peace" and "not make waves".
So don't make waves and allow a corrupt federal employee to violate their own jurisdictional code and potentially ruin your companies reputation. Or, risk assess and hover over the asshat like a hawk during his tours and keep it quiet.
Everyone has a supervisor...
There is an appeals process.
We have not experienced such scenario, but yes, you can make an appeal or report.
I'm not in the your building so I wouldn't have to face the consequences of speaking up, but the longer I'm in the industry the more I push back on bad auditors/inspectors. All they do is make the existing controls less effective and then we get FSMA because they don't enforce the regulations already there.
#rant
Here's the FSIS directive less than a year old telling him he's being an asshat. You can try politely sharing it with him and hope he gets that you're willing to speak upward about this issue. But decide whether your company would benefit from a few NR's to help other things get better. After all, they're not public, so while it's work for you it doesn't damage your company's reputation and is in general not a huge deal.