11 replies to this topic

[Charles Chew]

Hi,

I think (correct me if I am wrong) that there are TWO Good Manufacturing Practices of a HACCP Plan that are generally left to external parties and beyond our own control.

There are Pest Control (which is often given to approved Pest Consultants and Microbiological Analysis (which is done by third party independent laboratories).

I am keen to explore how best a BAIT STATION PLAN be prepared to enable an effective Pest Control Plan. Lets say we have written all our Pest Control Procedures and is now waiting for the Pest Contractor to come out with the best bait station plan.

How do we know that the Pest Contractor has the knowledge of food safety to come out with the right bait station format to facilitate easy, pragmatic and convenient in monitoring effectiveness WITHOUT triggering a non-conformance?

The bait station should be able to monitor pest infestation trendings, allow strategic mobility of bait traps, facilitate pest sightings and so forth. In short, is the bait station plan in line with HACCP procedures?

Charles Chew

[Simon]

Hi Charles,

Employing a professional pest control company who have trained and experienced pest control technicians and biologists is very important. In the UK the main body for certifying pest control companies and for training technicians etc. is The British Pest Control Association (BPCA). It is helpful if they have experience of your segment of the food industry and the associated hazards. They are the professionals and should be able to tell you where you need baits etc. but you know your own site intimately so in answer to your question I believe the development of the bait plan should be very much a partnership approach.

Regards,
Simon

[Charles Chew]

Simon,

Pest Consultants should have knowledge on pest behaviour, breeding cycles, etc but thats not quite the issue here.

The common bloke generally relies on the Pest Consultant and rightfully, work together in deploying the best bait station plan for the company to meet its foodsafety program as well.

The common problem encountered in most bait station plans designed by Pest Consultants are often TOO RIGID. Nevertheless, it is still a bait station layout plan abeit one that is difficult to document / monitor.

Bait traps are often fixed amd marked at specific points even though over time these points may not proof to be strategically "rewarding". In a HACCP Plan, we are allowed to move marked bait traps anywhere we wish BUT we need to change / alter the Bait Station Layout each time we MAKE a change. This is where the problem lies.

Regardless of the nature of environment, be it food and non-food, a good Pest Consultant must accomplish the dynamic needs and demands of the industries to allow FLEXIBILITIES of a pest control plan to achieve MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES.

Charles Chew

[Simon]

Bait traps are often fixed amd marked at specific points even though over time these points may not proof to be strategically "rewarding". In a HACCP Plan, we are allowed to move marked bait traps anywhere we wish BUT we need to change / alter the Bait Station Layout each time we MAKE a change. This is where the problem lies.

I'm not so sure Charles, unless you intend to move the baits really regularly (e.g. daily / weekly) I would expect (demand) that the pest consultant redo the documented bait plan as required. If they could not agree to this I would be forced to find somebody who could. I agree that we shouldn't simply sit back and accept continued ‘all clear' results as a sign that everything is OK. The plan must be dynamic and subject to continued review.

Regards,
Simon

[Charles Chew]

The plan must be dynamic and subject to continued review.

Rightfully so but you may be able to save some hassles here. Sharing an experience while implementing my first HACCP Plan years back, the Bait Staiton Plan we designed was indeed approved by our auditor. But during our verification activities, we had HELL each time we wanted to move a trap or two. It was too rigid. To comply, we needed to do a Management Review and make the amendments to replace the previous plan.

As dynamic as the plan should be, we decided to make our own rules about flexibilities in our Pest Control Plan although, this approach is not possible for all the GMPs in the HACCP plan.

We re-set the rules in our policies and played by the rules. Result: we had tremendous flexibilities without breaking the rules on compliances and yet achieved further effectiveness. We re-set the rules to allows us to move freely with "marked and numbered bait traps" supported by monitoring evidences. No problem with food auditor.

Someone should try this out. It will make your daily HACCP activities so much more friendlier.

The HACCP team members are trained to understand the food safety rules better than the Pest Consultants. Why not dictate our own direction and maintain control over our own programs.


Charles Chew

[lance]

I'm new to this site but hope attached docs will help all to create an effective pest plan

Attached Files

•  Integrated Pest Management Plan - Procedures2.doc   38KB   310 downloads
•  modified badge request.xls   23.5KB   207 downloads
•  pesticide and rodenticide control policy and procedure2.doc   34.5KB   241 downloads
•  Pesticide and Rodenticide_Chemical_Material_Approval_Request1.xls   33KB   199 downloads

[Simon]

I'm new to this site but hope attached docs will help all to create an effective pest plan

Thanks so much for sharingthe documents Lance. If you don't mind I will also put the documents in the "documents exchange" forum for easy reference.

Thanks again and welcome to the forums Lance.

Regards,
Simon

[Kamwenji Njuma]

Dear Lance,

Thanks for the docs.


Regards,
Kamwenji Njuma

[Bunny]

I can see where you are going with this one Charles, I to a degree agree with you but would it not be better to work in partnership with your pest control contractor??

If they are worth their salt they would be only too happy to learn, a day without learning something is a day wasted in my view, it would also depend on which company you used, are they independant and in a position to give you the additional time needed on site to undertake the additional work such as updating site maps and review meetings et al!

Some companies will restrict time on site to their technicians if that is all the time you have paid for, if the funds are there any pest prevention programme WILL meet the needs of the end client. I offer compliance for all recognised standards for pest control in the food industry in the UK including BRC, AIB, M&S, Tesco`s and Whitbread ensuring that our clients meet the requirements of their external Clients.

But it comes at a cost, time spent on site is billable that is business and only fair.

Once you get past those hurdles anything is possible. I have enjoyed some very good relationships with my clients, we work together and I like it that way it`s a win/win

Bunny

[Charles.C]

Dear lance,

Thks for the interesting documents.

Hv one small comment (not a criticism) - most private standards these days seem to require risk assessment based procedures which seems not included in yr attachments.

Rgds / Charles.C

[Simon]

I can see where you are going with this one Charles, I to a degree agree with you but would it not be better to work in partnership with your pest control contractor??

If they are worth their salt they would be only too happy to learn, a day without learning something is a day wasted in my view, it would also depend on which company you used, are they independant and in a position to give you the additional time needed on site to undertake the additional work such as updating site maps and review meetings et al!

Some companies will restrict time on site to their technicians if that is all the time you have paid for, if the funds are there any pest prevention programme WILL meet the needs of the end client. I offer compliance for all recognised standards for pest control in the food industry in the UK including BRC, AIB, M&S, Tesco`s and Whitbread ensuring that our clients meet the requirements of their external Clients.

But it comes at a cost, time spent on site is billable that is business and only fair.

Once you get past those hurdles anything is possible. I have enjoyed some very good relationships with my clients, we work together and I like it that way it`s a win/win

Bunny

You can't argue with that Bunny.

[Tony-C]

I can see where you are going with this one Charles, I to a degree agree with you but would it not be better to work in partnership with your pest control contractor??

If they are worth their salt they would be only too happy to learn, a day without learning something is a day wasted in my view, it would also depend on which company you used, are they independant and in a position to give you the additional time needed on site to undertake the additional work such as updating site maps and review meetings et al!

Some companies will restrict time on site to their technicians if that is all the time you have paid for, if the funds are there any pest prevention programme WILL meet the needs of the end client. I offer compliance for all recognised standards for pest control in the food industry in the UK including BRC, AIB, M&S, Tesco`s and Whitbread ensuring that our clients meet the requirements of their external Clients.

But it comes at a cost, time spent on site is billable that is business and only fair.

Once you get past those hurdles anything is possible. I have enjoyed some very good relationships with my clients, we work together and I like it that way it`s a win/win

Bunny

"I can see where you are going with this one Charles, I to a degree agree with you but would it not be better to work in partnership with your pest control contractor??"

Absolutely why wouldn't you work in partnership with your pest control contractor? After all you are employing them as your "experts" in pest control. By all means carry out a risk assessment yourself and discuss your findings with your contractor.

I don't really understand all this "we had HELL each time we wanted to move a trap or two" My reaction would be get on with it and get over it! Usually I would have fixed stations on a site and put in temporary stations if necessary.

"But it comes at a cost, time spent on site is billable that is business and only fair" Yes, most people I know are in business to make money!

"Once you get past those hurdles anything is possible." The biggest hurdle is thinking that there is a hurdle.

Regards,

Tony