Transcript for Introduction to the Harmonized GAP Third-Party Audit

Speaker: Scott Monroe, Food Safety Educator, Purdue Extension

Scott Monroe:

I'm Scott Monroe, Food Safety Educator with Purdue Extension. And today we're going to be talking a little bit about GAP audits, third-party audits as they relate to food safety and produce. So how many of you have been in this situation? You're sitting there in the winter thinking about your crops, what you're going to grow next year. You get a call from your buyer, he says, Mr. Grower, we love your product. We love what you're doing. But if we're going to continue to do business, you need to obtain a third-party audit or a GAP certification. If you're like most growers, your first instinct is to say, what in the world is that?

Your second instinct, hopefully, would be to pick up the phone and call Purdue extension. Because we're always here, we're always willing to help. And today we're introducing our new series, Third-Party Audit Process A Farmers Journey. And what we hope to accomplish with this is to provide produce growers with the basic information that they need to start the process of a third-party audit and eventually pass that audit. for our purposes with these videos, we are using the harmonized GAP audit, which is supported and available through USDA. The key thing to remember is that throughout this process, it is essential that you communicate with your buyers, because buyers are the ones that insist on these audits.

Most generally, buyers are obviously free to decide which audits they will accept. There are a lot of different GAP audits out there. Again, harmonized is what we settled on. This is not an endorsement of any particular audit. It's just the one that we settled on. Generally this requires less documentation and tends to be a little less involved than some of the higher-level audits that are out there. So what that does is that makes it a little easier for smaller growers to tackle this, because it can seem a bit overwhelming when you get started with this process. So let's talk a little bit about the harmonized GAP audit. This information is available on USDA website.

The thing to remember with the harmonized audit is that it is divided into various scopes. For example, I wouldn't need to do a greenhouse audit if all of my production is out in an open field. There are also general questions, regardless of what scope you choose. There are general questions that everyone has to answer. Generally, one of the first questions is does your farm or your operation have a written food safety plan? And we'll cover that further into the video. Other general questions might relate to the environment wildlife. Making sure that you are in general holistically on your farm. Managing those food safety risks as best you can and doing so adequately so that we're not introducing additional risk of contamination into the public food supply.

Once we have all of our stuff together, that means our written plan. We have our program of food safety implemented. Then it's time for the third-party audit, which is part for the last part of this process. So let's talk a little bit about the harmonized GAP audit. So the first question is where did the harmonized GAP audit come from. So let's go back in food safety history for a few years. And what we find is that as the Food Safety Modernization Act was passed, as these third-party audits became more prevalent, many farmers were starting to experience audit fatigue. And there were instances where farms were having to do multiple audits and spending large amounts of time doing nothing but preparing for the next audit to keep all of the buyers satisfied and to meet all buyer requirements.

So the intent of the harmonized GAP audit was to create an audit that took from all of these other systems by creating one harmonized GAP audit that everyone could use, everyone could agree on. As we get into this, what we want to do is talk about exactly what a third-party audit is. We want to understand the structure of the third-party audit, and how this is put together. We're going to talk a little bit about how to build a food safety plan and then understand the harmonized GAP plus audit and some of the other audits. We'll talk a little bit about some of the other audits that might be out there.

Please note on the right side of this slide, the word important written three times in red. Understand, a third-party audit requires some documentation. All third-party audits that I'm aware of are going to require a written food safety plan. You're also going to have to have standard operating procedures for your farm. You're going to need documentation and records for cleaning sanitation. You're going to need a traceability system, a mock recall plan, and a mock audit. The key to successfully instituting a food safety program and passing a GAP audit is to allow yourself enough lead time to put this in place, because of the documentation requirements. This is not something you're going to start in July if your harvest season starts in August.

There's an old saying that Rome wasn't built in a day. Well, good food safety programs and systems are not built in a day either. Maybe your first season you tackle some of the big risk of your water, your soil amendments, worker training. The next year you focus on wildlife policies, documentation, and work with the buyers. Make sure they understand also that you may need some lead time on this. Sometimes they will give it to you. Sometimes they won't. But make sure they understand what they are asking. So GAP audits are based on good agricultural practices. What we refer to as GAPs. GAPs are a set of principles, guidelines and standards designed to ensure food safety, environmental sustainability and worker health and safety in agricultural production.

So traditionally, audits have focused on good agricultural practices. More recently, we see these audits also being used to address environmental sustainability and worker health and safety. So, what we see is that the scope of these audits may be expanding just a little. But historically, these audits have focused on good ag practices or GAPs. So, GAPs are basically those best practices that we use to make sure that a foodborne pathogen does not get into the public food supply. We use GAPs on farms to reduce the risk of something contaminating our crops, something like a human pathogen. So, when we look at GAPs , there are some key components that we need to focus on.

And as we work through that audit process, preparing for the audit and passing the audit, the audit scheme or the audit protocol will guide you towards managing risk related to these different areas that you see on the screen. Water quality, soil management, worker hygiene, harvesting practices, post-harvest handling, pest and animal management, and record keeping. These are the things that go a long way towards reducing risk. And this audit is designed to help you institute these policies, these procedures on farm, to make sure that workers aren't accidentally spreading contamination to the crop. And as you work through that audit, it will help you to document this. And again, keep the records so that you can look and understand and study trends and see where those problems or those areas might be, where you're taking on additional risks that you really shouldn't have to record.

Keeping helps us to understand whether or not long term, this food safety program that we have is actually working. So let's look at different versions of the Harmonized GAP, but Harmonized GAP Plus +. So Harmonized GAP Plus + is something that came out a few years ago. And it's actually it was meant for those folks who need something a little more stringent, a little more involved, but it basically has technical equivalency. So it's not GFSI benchmark, but it does have technical equivalency. So it is considered to be on par with other GSFI benchmark audits such as SQF or Primus. So again, this is something that we see used primarily for those who want to ship long distances interstate commerce, international commerce.

Some of these GFSI benchmark audits are used extensively. This Harmonized GAP Plus + that we have is or that USDA is also it's meant as an alternative to some of these other GFSI benchmark audits. The Harmonized GAP Plus is focused on good ag practices at the farm level, whereas some of these other higher-level third-party certifications tend to be more comprehensive across the entire food supply chain. The Harmonized tends to look at pre-harvest and harvest activities, whereas some of these others look at everything more holistically the farming, the processing, packing, storing, storage, distribution. Generally, the Harmonized GAP Plus is accepted by US retailers, schools, food service. When you get into these other certifications they're going to be required generally by large retailers, exporters, multinational buyers.

So again the Harmonized GAP Plus is best suited for mid-sized farms, small-size farms. Whereas these others that we see the SQL, the Primus, GFS. These are going to be for larger operations in general. And each operation is different. So again these are generalities that we're talking about. One thing to consider is that a Harmonized GAP Plus audit means it will generally come with lower certification and audit cost, whereas some of these other systems may come with higher costs due to audit frequency or system requirements. So again, something to consider if you don't need an upper level audit. This Harmonized GAP Plus may be something that you can think about and utilize.

One thing that all of these audits have in common is that they require a written food safety plan. Which begs the question, exactly what is a food safety plan? And a food safety plan is nothing more than a structured document that outlines the strategies and practices that you use on your farm to reduce risk. So we're looking at the procedures, the measures that we implement to identify, prevent and control food safety hazards during the production, harvesting, packing and distribution of fresh produce. Really, a written food safety plan is just your food safety program on paper along with your record. The advantage of this is that it allows you to have all of your policies, your SOPs, your procedures, and your records in one place.

In general, size of this plan is going to be dictated by the size of the farm. The key is that the plan needs to contain basic information. At its heart, a written food safety plan is something that can very quickly give a person an idea of what your farm is about. Growers have some flexibility in how these plans are put together. However, if you are looking to obtain a third-party audit, you need to follow your particular audit scheme when you're putting your plan together. Most of these audit schemes come with a checklist. When the auditor comes to do the audit, they will work through that checklist. They will start with question one and work through to the end.

So if your written food safety plan is put together and aligned with the checklist, it makes it very easy for the auditor to look at all of your paperwork and all your records in a very quick, efficient manner. Remember, as a grower, you're going to be paying that auditor to do the audit. And if you can shorten that time that's taken for the audit, you're going to reduce the cost, overall cost for the audit. Like we said, a food safety plan is something that we use to very quickly give someone an idea of what are farms about, how it's laid out, what we're growing. So you're going to have facility or farm information, maps of everything, all your SOPs, your policies, any risk assessment that is called for by the audit protocol.

You're going to have that in their emergency contact information. Most audit protocols are going to want supplier information, making sure that you're buying your inputs from a reliable source so that you're not going to be bringing additional risk factors onto the farm. You'll have water testing protocols, results, a recall plan. Most audit schemes are now requiring an internal mock audit, so you'll have to document that food safety plan reports SOPs. And again this all ties together. Remember that policies tell us what we do. Standard operating procedures SOPs tell us how that gets done. And the records indicate or show that it was actually done. So as you put these in your plan, and if you align it with the checklist at a very, it allows the auditor to very quickly go through the different questions and points and conduct the audit more efficiently.

For example, the auditor may ask, do you have a plan for spills? Do you have a plan for sick workers? Do you have a policy? Well, when they get to that, to the in the checklist, you show them, here's our policy. Well, how do you go about executing this policy. Well, here's our standard operating procedure with the steps. How do I know it was done? Here's our record signed off by a supervisor showing when the packing line was cleaned. Policy SOP records what we do, how we do it, and proof that it was done. So again, these are the things that you're going to see put into that food safety plan.

You basically start working through the checklist one item at a time. Make sure you have lead time to accomplish this. But again remember this is doable. Farms have done this for years. And small farms, large farms you can do this. And the whole point of this video series is to help you and enable you to do this and to get that GAP certification.

Transcript for Understanding Audit Scope and Process 

Speaker: Tari Gary, Senior Extension Administrator, Food Science Department, Purdue University; Safe Produce Indiana team member

Transcript

Tari Gary:

Hello, my name is Tari Gary, and I'm the Senior Extension Administrator in the Food Science Department at Purdue University. And I'm a member of the Safe Produce Indiana team. Today we're going to continue our discussion on third party audit process. A farmer's journey. In this video we will discuss audit scope and process. Our learning objectives here are to navigate through the USDA audit checklist, understand what is required in each section of the audit, understand the audit process and resources available to help prepare for an audit. So when we're looking at the audit scope of a USDA harmonized GAP audit, there are a few different scopes that we are going to discuss.

The first ones on this slide are not optional and are mandatory for all farms. First we have general questions. During this part of the audit, the auditor will go through your general food safety policies that you have on the farm. They might ask for standard operating procedures as well as records that you have This is mainly a record review and a paperwork review. Next, the auditor will review field operations and harvesting. This is going to be largely observational, the auditor will spend some time talking to workers and verify that those policies and procedures are being done in practice. Then they will move on to post-harvest operations. So you'r packing and your holding operations.

And once again this will be largely observational. And the auditor will talk these things through with the workers. And then finally logo use. So this will only be completed for operations who intend on using the USDA GAP or GHP logo on packaging and promotional materials. If you're not using that logo on any of your materials, then you don't have to worry about the scope of the audit. Next, there are several optional audit scopes that your farm may opt into. First being the warehouse scope. Now this is only going to be if your farm has a separate packing or holding facility that operates like a warehouse separate from the farm. If you don't have a warehouse, then you would not opt for this scope.

Next is food defense and food fraud. So this is a separate audit scope that really dives into what your food defense plan looks like on your farm and goes above and beyond the food defense requirements that are in the general section scope that we discussed earlier. So please note that you still, even if you don't opt into this separate audit scope, you still do have some requirements for food defense. Next is integrated pest management or IPM. So this would have additional requirements for pest management. And then finally there's the tomato audit protocol for open field production and harvesting packing house greenhouse repacking and distribution. This is specifically for tomato growers.

So for all of these optional audit scopes is important that the farm talks to their buyer. That is requiring the audit to see if they require any of these additional audit scopes, Next, we'll discuss audit acceptance criteria. So what does a farm need to do in order to pass an audit. And that can be found outlined to the right here on this slide. So we'll run through these quickly. So first the auditor wants to make sure that there is there's nothing going on on the farm that requires immediate action. So this would be a huge red flag food safety violation that the auditor sees on the farm. And if they see that, that would mean the farm would automatically fail.

So if there is an IR marked on the audit report, that farm would not pass. Next is falsification of records that would also be marked as an ear. Immediate action required. And that farm would not pass that audit. Number three says any question marked with this dot and the mandatory column must be assessed as compliant. So this means as you're going through the audit standard, if you see that denotation on any of the requirements, that means you have to comply and be fully compliant in order to pass. If you are not compliant with that particular requirement, then you your farm automatically fails the audit. Next, an operation must have performed all risk assessments marked with a and the doc column of the standard.

So if you see that assessment, make sure that you have that in your food safety plan and ready for the auditor to review. Number five says if the oddity has been audited against other USDA GAAP standards in the past, they must have addressed all of their noncompliance in the past that were noted. So if the auditor found anything where corrective action was needed or immediate action was required, they're going to double check that you corrected all of those things before the auditor came back that time. And then finally, the auditor is going to make sure that you are in compliance with at least 80% of the questions and sections G, F, and P, which are the major audit sections.

Now let's review some other resources to help your farm get ready for an audit. First, we're going to look at the USDA Gap Audit Program Manual. So the USDA Policies and Procedures document provides more details about each policy records and assessment that are required in the audit standard. So if you're going through the audit standard and going through that table and you have a few other questions about, okay, what does that need to look like on my farm, this is where this document can really come in handy and helping you determine what that looks like. So you'll see for each requirement in the audit standard expectations. So exactly what the auditor is going to check for and that particular section of the audit.

And then example scenarios. So how different scenarios and situations that could occur on the farm and how they will be assessed by the auditor. So this is basically the manual. It's an open book test. You can see exactly what the auditor is going to be looking for for each requirement. here in a second we're going to show you an example from this harmonized GAAP audit program manual and run through what that can look like. So in the harmonized GAAP Audit Program manual, you will see each requirement of the standard outlined separately. So we're going to go through an example here for requirement G 2.1. There shall be a written food safety plan.

The plan shall cover the operation. The operation and products covered shall be defined. It then goes through the procedure that you go through during the audit. The food Safety plan shall identify all locations of operation and products covered by the plan. The plan shall address potential physical, chemical and biological hazards reasonably likely to occur, as well as hazard control procedures, including monitoring, verification and record keeping for all provisions covered by this audit. For verification, the auditors shall observe the food safety plan and verify that the plan has considered potential physical, chemical and biological hazards and has identified preventive controls for hazards that may reasonably affect food safety. For the corrective action operation develops or complaints of food safety plan for all products and locations of operation.

The document required here is a written policy. And then you'll see the row that says mandatory. And you see this denotation here with this dot. And that indicates this is required for all farms. And if you do not have a food safety plan, it's an automatic fail for the audit. And then the expectation goes into a little bit more detail of exactly what the auditor is looking for And then finally you'll see example scenarios. And this is what I really like because it shows you what would be considered compliant and then what would be considered non-compliant and where corrective action is needed. So in scenario one, the food safety plan is generic and does not consider the operations, actual conditions and potential hazards.

The assessment is that corrective action is needed for lack of a specific plan, or immediate action may be required if the conditions and potential hazards for that operation are imminent. Food safety hazards. The reason is the plan must consider the operations, actual conditions and procedures for scenario two. The food safety plan is generic, but it considers all potential hazards reasonably likely to occur at the operation. Procedures in the generic plan are being followed. The assessment is that this is compliant, and the reason is that the plan addresses all hazards for the operation and is consistent with procedures being followed. So that is what is there for G 2.1 in the audit standard.

And then if you continue to scroll through this document, you will see this outlined with this format for all of the requirements and the audit standard. So as you're going through the standard in that table and you have questions about specifically what is required for this requirement, you can see exactly what the auditor is looking for. So you can find the link to this program manual as well as other resources in the description for this video. Thank you.

Transcript for General Questions, Field Operations, and Post-harvest Operations

Speaker: Amanda Deering, Department of Food Science, Purdue University

Transcript

Amanda Deering:

Hi, my name is Amanda Deering, and today I'm here to talk to you a little bit more about the third party audit in this video series that we're doing. So I'm in the Department of Food Science at Purdue University, and I work with a lot of fruit and vegetable growers and good manufacturing practices, good agricultural practices and food safety. part three we're going to talk about general questions that could come up with the checklists. Also field and post-harvest operations that will help you prepare for your third party audit the learning objectives for today is to understand the three most important sections of this audit. We will also talk a lot about what that audit checklist is and how to navigate through it.

And I will say that the checklist is going to be your friend. So there's no surprises here. in this checklist you will be told exactly what the auditor is looking for. So you don't have to be surprised when they come in. They're asking you for certain documents or they want to see certain places on your farm. So this will also help you understand what is required in each audit section, and also give you some resources available to help prepare for an audit. all of these things will be very important moving forward as you prepare for your third party audit. this first section here is the general questions section. And you can see that is divided into 14 different subsections that range anything from management responsibility to your food safety plan.

That is very important. All the documents and record keeping that you need to do and also as well as traceability, recall program and importantly corrective actions. all these things right down to food defense and food fraud could be included in that third party audit. This will also include things like worker health and hygiene, toilet and handwashing facilities. And they do represent a big portion of what this audit will comprise. So really think about what are the major food safety challenges that could be present on the farm. And that's what this checklist is trying to address. lastly, there's the food defense and food fraud in sections G 13 through G 14.

And these are not incomplete in case you should decide not to do the food defense and food fraud as part of your additional scope of your audit. So some buyers may require that some may not. is up to you and your buyer should you decide to do that part of the audit scheme. here is just an example of the checklist that USDA provided. And this is for section two of the food safety plan a risk assessment. And you will see where it says under the doc the written plan. That means it's a requirement. And so you have to have this in your written food safety plan then where you see sections like G-2.2.

The food safety plan shall be reviewed at least annually. That means you have to have a record when you CR. Okay. So this will be followed throughout all of this document. And like I said there's no surprises. They're going to be very upfront with what is required. The next section is field operations and harvesting. And in this section you will see that there's 13 different subsections. And in here the auditors really trying to understand through your documentation what is going on at the farm. So the auditor may check policies, your standard operating procedures records and assessment about how the farm performs its activities in the field. And you can see here in all of these different one through F13.

These are all activities that are done on the farm that the auditor is going to make sure are being done safely. This will also include a pre harvest and daily farm inspection record that you will need to be kept for all the daily activities that happen on the farm. So if we go back to the checklist, we can see under section F-2. This is regarding the water system description. And you can see here that a requirement in F-2.1 is that a water system description shall be available for review. And this belongs in your written plan. So this would be in your food safety plan. And you can see it gives you the procedure of everything that should be included.

And basically what the auditors looking for is you have a map of where the water comes into your operation and where it goes out. So this could be for handwashing facilities, for irrigation, for washing produce, whatever. So you would include all of that in your map of where the water comes in and out. And that would fulfill the requirement of having this water system description in your written plan, the last section we have is post-harvest operations. And you can see that this is divided into nine different subsections. And really what this is, is everything after the produce comes out of the field. So this would include produce sourcing facilities, pest and animal control, post-harvest water use, storage transportation and anything else that happens to the produce after it comes out of the field.

the auditors is checking policies, standard operating procedures records and assessments about how the farm performs as post-harvest activities to ensure that everything is being done as safely as possible. And in this point, which could happen at any point, but specifically here, the auditor might walk around the farm and observe employees performing post-harvest activities and ask those employees certain food safety questions. So here's examples in section P-3 under Pest and Animal control. And you will see under P-3 that one operation has procedures to manage pests to the extent appropriate to the operation. And you'll see here that it requires both a written plan and a record. So this means it needs to be spelled out in your food safety plan, how you are going to take care of any pests and manage those pests, should they be present in your post-harvest facility.

You also have to have a record for this section that indicates how often this is being done. In your documenting, anytime you see a pest or any things you have to do to manage pests in the packing house. So the auditor will go around likely read this in your food safety plan. First, check your records and make sure you have them, and then walk around your operation to make sure that you're doing as you said you were going to do in your written plan, and it matches the records that you present to the auditor. here are some other resources that USDA has made available to growers to help them prepare for their third party audit.

So they have the USDA Policies and Procedure document that provides more details about each policy records and the assessment that is required. So the expectations include what the auditor will check for in that particular section of the audit. So it's very likely the auditor will go around the operation to make sure that everything that is said is being done in the food safety plan is actually being done. So keep in mind the food safety plan is not a wish of things you would hope that happens on your farm. Your food safety plan is the exact documentation of what is actually happening and what you are doing in your operation. They also give some example scenarios.

So these are different scenarios and situations that could occur. And how will they be handled in assessed by the auditor. So at the end of these videos we will provide links to all of these documents so you can access them for yourselves. If you have any questions regarding preparing for your third party audit. If you would like us to come out and do a mock audit to help you prepare, please reach out to us at any time and we're happy to walk through any of these procedures with you, and better explain any questions that you may have.

Transcript for Harmonized GAP Audit Process  

Scott Monroe:

So the big day finally comes its audit day. After all your work, after all your preparation, after all of the collecting of documentation, it all comes down to this day and this audit to determine whether or not you get your Gap certification. So there's some things that we want to talk about that you can do to help make that audit flow more efficiently, and to help convince that auditor that you have an adequate, appropriate food safety program based on the the audit scheme that you have chosen. So one of the first things that we need to talk about would be your sign in sheet and visitor policy. Generally, farms are expected to have a visitor policy.

And somewhere in that visitor policy, it should state that all visitors must sign in or sign a log sheet. Here at the Produce Student Farm, we have our own sign in sheet that we use, and all visitors are expected to sign that. We also have a copy of the visitor policy. Visitors are given larger copies of the policy, and having this on the sign in sheet gives them one more, gives us one more chance to convey that information to the visitor. Information such as where they may or may not go. Handwashing policies, health and hygiene policies, etc.. So when the auditor comes to your farm, you're going to introduce yourself.

And if the auditor does not immediately say where is your visitor log? You need to make sure you ask the auditor immediately to come to the office, or to wherever you have your clipboard, and sign in and sign the visitor log. Not only does this keep you within compliance of your own farm policies, but it also helps to show that auditor that you're serious about food safety and that you have a program that you're actually enforcing and expecting everyone to participate in while they are on your farm. One of the many records or forms of documentation and auditor may ask for would be your daily log sheet. Again, recall that most audit schemes require that you monitor the farm monitor for wildlife activity for just anything that could present a food safety risk, and make sure you note those issues.

So here at the Produce Student Farm, we have a daily log sheet which is filled out by our farm supervisor, which basically chronicles and records whatever is seen on the farm. That may be a food safety risk and how that problem was resolved. But again, the auditor may ask for this as a daily log sheet to demonstrate that you're not just doing food safety on audit day, but that you have a continued commitment on all the days, not just when they're in town, to keep the your produce safe and reduce the risk of contamination by foodborne pathogen. So what goes on this daily log sheet? Well, anything that may cause a food safety risk that you find that really could use remediation or corrective action in that moment, for example, or produce student farm log sheet.

Our superintendent has noted that there is some deer activity on the farm, which in Indiana is to be expected, and notes that they were chased out of the patch and then a fence was put up. A dead rabbit was found on another day, and they removed that and flagged the area and created a no harvest area around the flag. So again, basically what we're doing is just showing that auditor that on a daily basis, we are concerned about food safety and adhering to our food safety policies, as opposed to just trying to do food safety one day a year when the auditor comes to town. So under the food defense sections of the Harmonized Gap Audit, one is expected to have an emergency response plan for the farm.

So an emergency response plan basically talks about what you're going to do in the event of an emergency, whether that's fire, earthquake, tornado. Always make sure that you have that emergency response plan. obviously created, but in a place where it can be accessed readily. And as you do your worker training, it's always a good idea to touch on that emergency response plan and make sure employees know basic information. For example, storms, tornadoes. Where is our muster point? Where are we going to aggregate? Where are we going to meet? Where are we going to find shelter and put down on paper what you would expect the employees and all your workers and all your visitors to do in the event of an actual emergency.

And again, make sure that all of your workers are drilled on this or trained on this and that they at least know muster points and safe spaces on your farm. So remember that a big part of a food safety program is being able to demonstrate that your inputs and the materials that are coming onto the farm, as well as what's going on on the farm, are not adding additional risk to the system, at least risk for contamination by human pathogen. So in that vein, it's important to make sure we're documenting pesticide use and sprayer calibration. As a grower, it's on you to prove to the auditor that you're using pesticides in a manner consistent with labeling.

And that doesn't introduce additional risk into the system, especially risk for contamination by human pathogen. So what that means is that not only do we need records of our pesticide applications, our rates, our dates, our times, which on most farms is a fairly normal record to have. We also need to make sure that we have calibration records so that we can demonstrate to that auditor that our equipment is calibrated such that we are capable of applying pesticides at the appropriate rate. So with regard to calibration, most most state land grant universities will have resources available. Most state extension organizations will have resources available to help you with sprayer calibration. In Indiana.

Purdue University, The Office of Pesticide Programs provides educational material and training to help growers learn how to appropriately calibrate their application equipment. But again, the idea is that we need to have records of calibrating our equipment, as well as records showing what we are putting on that crop in terms of date, rate, timing, etc.. Among the many records that we may need to produce for our auditor, we may need to produce our bin and glove policy. So this is a policy that is required by the audit protocol to govern how we manage harvest bins, harvest materials and the use of gloves. So again, there are a lot of ways you can go with this.

Right. The policy that works for your farm. The key is to make sure that however you manage the harvest bins, that they're protected and that you're not using them in such a way that introduces additional risk into your production system. Examples would be bins are single use only. Following every use they will be washed and sanitized. So again, there's a lot of ways you can do this, but it really needs spilled out in a specific bin. Policy gloves are not required in most cases, however, it's a good idea to have a glove policy regardless so that if individuals choose to use gloves, there is some guidance. Remember that single use gloves disposable gloves are in fact disposable and single use.

Make sure that workers understand single use gloves are simply single use. Use them once. Throw them away. If you are using reusable gloves, then as part of your glove policy, you're going to need to spell out how those gloves are cared for handled. For instance, reusable gloves you may put in your policy. Reusable gloves will be collected every evening. They will be cleaned, washed, sanitized at the end of the evening or at the end of the harvest activity, or that they will be cleaned and sanitized as needed, with records produced to show that these gloves were in fact washed and sanitized in an appropriate fashion. So again, remember, as we work through these records, they work in conjunction with the policies and SOPs to make sure that things get done as they should.

For example, you have your glove policy. You may also need to create a standard operating procedure for how to wash gloves. If you're using reusable gloves, and then records of that wash or of those washing and standardization activities. So again, policy SOP record what we do, how we do it and proof that it was done. If you have those three in place, you're going to get those points for that item from your auditor. So when Audit Day arrives there are some things that you can do as a grower to help make that audit flow more efficiently and to help convince that auditor that you are taking food safety seriously. So the first thing to do is greet the auditor, introduce yourself.

If they don't mention it immediately, ask them to sign the visitor log and provide them with a copy of the visitor policies. And congratulations! You've just gotten your first points towards passing your audit. Normally, what will happen during an audit is that the auditor will introduce themselves. You'll have an initial meeting where they will talk about ground rules, what to expect out of the day and how the audit will flow. Generally, you'll have an introductory meeting. You'll have an inspection of records and paperwork, and then you'll have a walk around or a tour of the farm itself. So the introductory meeting the other may go through initial paperwork, make sure the name of the farm is correct.

Make sure that they have appropriate contact information. ET cetera, etc. then as you sit down and get into the records portion of the audit, make sure that you have your food safety plan and any other pertinent records available readily available for the auditor. And depending on the size of the farm, the scope of the audit. This may take one to several hours, during which time the auditor will actually work through the checklist and ask questions that are found on the checklist. So if you have your written food safety plan aligned with the checklist and items are in the same order as a checklist, it just makes the audit go a lot more efficiently.

And remember, you're paying that auditor an hourly rate to be there on top of travel. Anything you can do to make the audit go more efficiently is going to be to your advantage. But once that portion is done, then the next thing that you generally see is the walk around. The auditor will walk around the farm, and we'll be looking for any obvious sources of food safety risk. So to prepare for that, first off, you need to make sure that your workers know what's going on. It's not uncommon for an auditor to stop and talk to your workers. They're going to be testing that workers knowledge of food safety, because you can anyone can give you a record of training, but hearing the correct answers from the people who were trained verifies that you're actually getting the information to them.

So the outer may ask questions like, if you drop that piece of produce on the ground, what would you do with it? Or are you aware of the farm's handwashing policy? These are things that the auditor may ask of the worker, so make sure your workers are aware that they may get some questions from the auditor. The other thing is to just make sure that everything is picked up and in order around the farm. No loose tools lying around, everything in its place, everything organized. Take a few hours the night before. Make sure that everything is where it is supposed to be. And again, it's not uncommon as an auditor goes through a farm to stop and ask specific questions.

For example, they may stop at your wash line and say, what do you do here? Well, we wash our produce well. Do you clean this line? Yes. Our policy states that we wash and clean this line as needed. How do I know that you will do this? Or how do you do this? We have a standard operating procedure that outlines the steps to take, starting with getting all the supplies and finishing with the sanitization step. But how do I know that this is done? We have a record here, signed off by a supervisor that shows the date and time of cleaning and the cleaning crew that was involved. Now, did you catch that?

What do you do? How do you do? How do I know what was done? Policy standard operating procedure. Record these three items from your food safety plan. Work together and function to show the auditor and demonstrate that you are, in fact, working through your food safety plan as specified in the written plan. You're doing the program. And again, the auditor may have some suggestions, some tips, or may have some issues with how your process is proceeding. And that's fine. Their job is to make sure you're doing what needs to be done according to their checklist and their specific audit scheme. So if they find something deficient in most cases, this is not a big deal.

Remember, this is like a basketball game. You don't have to score all the points. You just have to score enough points to win. And in this case, with the harmonized gap you're looking at about 80% of available points. So again these are some of the things that you can do as you work with the auditor during an audit to make sure that the experience is efficient. And we get the auditor in and we get them through the audit and back out as quickly efficiently as possible. At the end of the audit, the auditor will generally have a wrap up meeting where you'll sit down with the auditor and they will go over what they found, their initial findings, any corrective actions that need to take place, and just generally go over next steps.

Normally, you will not know on the day of the audit how you scored or whether or not you passed. The auditor will take all of their information, take that with them, and will calculate your scores at a later time, and then you will be notified as to whether or not you pass the audit. Now, during the audit, the auditor may find some items that will need addressed before they can allow that audit to be successfully passed. For example, evidence of excess wildlife intrusion may require a corrective action of managing that intrusion, adding another fence, or doing something to correct that. At the end of the day, you're going to have a list of those things that the auditor feels needs corrected before the process can move forward.

And what you will do is perform all required corrective actions. Submit proof to the auditor that these corrections have been made, and then they will allow that audit to proceed with either a pass or fail. So in summary, as we've said at other points in the video with regard to third party GAAP audits, remember this is doable. The whole idea of a food safety audit is to institute a program that is documented, that shows you're doing everything necessary on your farm to reduce the risk of contamination by a foodborne pathogen. And while we realize that this can look incredibly daunting at the outset. Yours is not the first farm that has undertaken this endeavor.

And you can do this. This is very doable. Make sure you allow yourself a lot of time, a lot of lead time, because it can be very time consuming. But as we wrap up this series, if we can offer any encouragement, it's that you, you can do this. And if you ever find yourself in a place where you need additional information or help, be sure to contact our team at Purdue University or the food safety professionals at your state's land grant institution. Again, I'm Scott Monroe, Food Safety Specialist with Purdue Extension. I'd like to thank you for your time and watching this video and good luck.