Advantage Good Agricultural Practices Manual

1.1 Worker Practices

Workers could contaminate food, food contact surfaces, water supplies and packaging materials if they do not follow basic practices.

This Good Agricultural Practice applies to:

Farms that have workers who milk livestock or handle eggs, honey, fruit or vegetables.

Worker: Includes owner; family members; supervisors; full-time, part-time and seasonal workers; and volunteers.

What needs to be done

Implement good worker practices to reduce the risk of worker-borne contamination.

How to do it

Establish good worker practices

Communicate to workers the practices for your operation relating to:

• Personal food, drinks and medication in or around food handling or storage areas
• Smoking, chewing tobacco, chewing gum and spitting in or around food handling or storage areas
• Wearing jewelry (unless jewelry is suitably covered), nail polish, badges, pins, and other items that may cause physical contamination
  

In general

• Have designated areas for eating, drinking and smoking.
• Provide a storage area for all personal property, including worker lunches.
• Designate someone to ensure workers are following expectations.
  
  

Did you know?

You will find an example of a written practice in the Training and Support Tools section (refer to Sample A).

If you need an audit

Be prepared for the auditor to:

• Possibly request to see written expected worker practices
• Observe designated areas for smoking and eating that are separate from the production, packaging and storage areas
  
  

Laws and regulations that apply

There are few specific agricultural laws that impact on food safety requiring persons to have specific personal on-farm practices. Generally, these requirements are laid out in laws regarding the processing of meat, fish and other food products or egg-grading stations, which are outside the scope of this document.

Milk Act, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 761, s. 13 (7) (d) requires persons who milk or handle milking equipment to be cleanly dressed and personally clean

Other legislation to be aware of

"New Guidelines for Farming Operations," under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, June 2006, specifies that the employer should instruct workers on safe handling procedures and proper personal hygiene techniques to minimize contact with chemical?or biological hazards.

Smoke-Free Ontario Act, S.O. 1994, 2005, c. 18, s. 9 requires that no person shall smoke tobacco or hold lighted tobacco in any enclosed workplace. Regulation 48/06 outlines requirements for designated smoking areas.

Proceed to 1.2 Hand Washing