Auditing and quality assurance

Auditing and quality assurance is the job of checking pest programmes rather than running them. It comes in three main forms. Third-party auditors work for certification bodies and audit food sites against schemes such as SQF or BRCGS, and the pest programme is one part of what they check. Client-side QA staff work for the food plant itself and manage the pest contractor as one of their prerequisite programmes. Internal quality auditors work for pest companies and check their own technicians' accounts before a client's auditor does. None of these roles treats anything, so none of them needs a pesticide licence just to audit, but credibility comes from credentials and experience. The work suits people who are thorough, sceptical in a polite way, good with documents and able to tell someone their programme has a problem without starting a fight. It is a career for people who have learned the work well enough to see what others miss. It is a poor fit for people who want to be outdoors all day or who dislike conflict.

Every audit starts with documents. On the pest programme, an auditor working against the SQF code is checking that the site has a documented pest prevention programme that names who is responsible, records and trends pest sightings, sets how often pest status is checked, shows every device on a site map with its location, number and type, lists the chemicals used with Safety Data Sheets available, and measures whether the programme is working. The contractor must be licensed and approved by the relevant authority, use trained operators and approved chemicals, and leave written reports of inspections and treatments.

Then comes the walk. The auditor compares the site map with what is actually on the walls, opens stations, looks at light traps, and looks for evidence of pests and for conditions that would let them in. The SQF code says identified pest activity must not present a contamination risk to food, raw materials or packaging, and that contaminated product must be disposed of and the source investigated, with records kept. Under the AIB standards, the facility's pest programme is judged partly by results: effective pest management is shown by a lack of identified pest activity.

Client-side QA work is less about a single audit day and more about running the system all year. In an SQF-certified site, senior management must designate a primary and substitute SQF practitioner, employed by the site, who has completed HACCP training and oversees the whole SQF system, including contract services such as pest control. Under FSMA, FDA requires certain parts of a food facility's food safety plan, such as preparing the plan, validation and records review, to be done or overseen by a preventive controls qualified individual. In practice the QA person reads every pest service report, follows up on recommendations, keeps the trend data, and answers for the pest programme when the certification auditor arrives.

Internal quality auditors at pest companies do a smaller version of the same job from the other side. They visit commercial accounts, check that records are complete, that every device on the map is present and serviced, that labels and licences are on file, and that trend reports were written and sent. The point is to find the gaps before the client's auditor or the state inspector does.

The rest of the week is writing. Findings have to be clear, specific and tied to the requirement they fail, and corrective actions have to be followed up. Third-party auditors also travel a great deal, because audits happen at the site.