The pest contractor employed or contracted by your food business needs to have adequate training and qualification to ensure their activities do not contaminate your food products. Welcome to Week 35 of the HACCP Mentor Food Safety HACCP Challenge. This week you are required to ensure that all of the pest contractor licenses are current.
How to achieve this Challenge
Step 1: Review your pest control records and write down the names of all pest contractors who have completed pest control activities within your food business in the last 12 months.
Step 2: Review the pest contractor details, including their license, to see if it is current. This is where you need to check the expiry date documented on their license.
Step 3: Take corrective action for any issues that you have discovered. For example:
- No license found on file —-> Get a copy of the pest contractor license
- License has expired —-> Get updated pest contractor license
Pest Contractor Qualification
Pest control activities can have a direct impact on the safety of your food product if not conducted correctly and by a qualified personnel. There are a few reasons why anyone who performs pest control services needs to be licensed. The main reason is that it is a legal requirement. It is also a requirement of the majority of GFSI recognized food safety standards.
Selecting a Pest Contractor
If you are looking to engage a third party pest contractor for your food business there are a few things to consider. Make sure that you have clear communication around:
- the target pests that will be included in the service
- the frequency and time of pest control ie monthly, weekly, quarterly, weekends, after production
- how all pest control activities will be reported to your business
- the types of chemicals that will be used. Always get a copy of a current chemical MSDS/SDS and food use suitability statements.
- induction training for all pest contractors
- areas of security access
Get a Pest Contractor Register
The best way to keep track of expiry dates for pest contractor licenses is put it on a register. I have previously discussed how to set up a notification register using excel. Just do the same steps but make it specific for pest contractors. To access pest management templates click here.
Feel free to share this article with your pest contractor or other staff in your business. Leave a comment below to share your experience with achieving this #FSHChallenge.
