UL Everclean: Navigating the California Regulatory Environment

UL Everclean: Navigating the
California Regulatory Environment
Presented by Garrison Ford
Dayne Hinojosa
UL and the UL logo are trademarks of UL LLC © 2012
CGAEF Webinar:
Navigating the California Regulatory
Environment
Host: Shiloh London
Executive Director,
CGA Educational Foundation
CGA Educational Foundation
The California Grocers Association Educational Foundation was
created in the early 1990s to provide financial assistance to advance
the educational goals of CGA member employees and their
dependents and offers educational programs for the grocery industry.
For a complete list of upcoming monthly webinars,
please visit us at CGAEF.org.
CGAEF Disclaimer
By hosting this Webinar, California Grocers Association (CGA) and the CGA
Educational Foundation (CGAEF) is providing an opportunity for its members
and attendees to learn general information that may be of interest to your
company. The Webinar is designed to provide practical and useful information
on the subject matter covered. However, CGA is not engaged in rendering
legal, accounting or other professional advice or services.
CGA/CGAEF does not review or approve the content of the webinar presented
by guest speakers and others, and makes no representations or warranties
about the accuracy or legality of any legal or other recommendations provided
during the webinar. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the
services of a competent professional should be sought.
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Upcoming Webinar:
Lawfully Selling Shelled Eggs in California
This webinar will focus on the requirements of new laws and the steps
California retailers can take to make sure they are lawfully selling shell
eggs beginning January 1, 2015.
Wednesday, October 8th | 10:00am – 11:00am
Register online at CGAEF.org
About Us
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Who We Are
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UL Everclean is NOT
 A Pest Company
 A Chemical Company
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What We Do
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Agenda
Regulatory Affairs
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Who is inspecting your location
Who looks for what
Being “audit ready”
How to read your audit
Closeable offenses
How to act around the inspector
Health Department Inspections
• FDA Food Code
• Types of Inspections
Pricing Inspections
• What’s a violation
• Escalating consequences
What You Can Do
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Who is Inspecting Your Location
Health Department
Weights & Measures
Local Fire
Department
Cal / OSHA
Department of
Agriculture
USDA Meat,
Poultry, Egg Safety
Branch
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What They Inspect
• Health Department
- Food temperatures
- Hot water / proper sanitizer
- Food protection
-
Structural / sanitary issues
• Weights & Measures
- Accuracy of weight and quantity of
products
- Enforce advertising & labeling
standards
• Fire Department
- Fire safety issues including sprinklers,
extinguishers, exit doors
• Cal / OHSA
- Occupational safety hazards
• USDA Meat, Poultry, Egg Safety
Branch
- Checks for shell egg quality at
wholesale and retail level
• Dept of Agriculture
- Ensure businesses charge the
customers the correct amount
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How to be Audit Ready
• Inspectors can come in at any time
o Facilities can have multiple inspections a year, depending on permit
• It’s important to have a system in place that ensures preparedness
• Establish daily checklists to ensure that policies and systems are in
place
• Make sure that there is always a Person In Charge at the facility
o The P.I.C should be trained to handle inspections
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How to Read Your Audit
Counties are beginning to move to online reporting and electronic
reports so stores may not get a written copy when the inspector
leaves.
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Closable violations
Violations that could lead to closure of the store or a department
include:
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Not hot water (Must have water >120 F)
Sewage back up
No working toilet
No permit (failure to pay)
Operating outside of your permit
Infestation (rodents or roaches)
The health department does have the ability to revoke a permit based
on continuous non-compliance on audits
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Escalating consequences
Immediate consequences for violations include:
• Discarding food
• Downgrade or closure
• Fines
• Cease and desist
Non-Immediate consequences for violations include:
• Hearing with a supervisor (usually in response to repeated critical
issue)
• Increased inspection frequency due to continued violations
• Additional requirements such as staff training, temperature logs etc.
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How to Act Around Your Inspector
• Audits are based on gaining compliance from retail locations
• Most inspectors won’t know to reach out to corporate or how a
corporate structure works
• Audit goal is to gain compliance for each issue at the store they are
inspecting
• Inspectors may only have one location from a chain in their
inventory. Won’t know if something is a systemic company wide
issue.
• Manager should always accompany inspector
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How to handle violations
Critical violations should be corrected while the health department is
still on site. Many health departments note on the report if the
violation was corrected on site.
Non-critical violations should be corrected by next inspection or the
inspector may give a deadline for completion.
Food may be discarded if it is deemed unsafe due to contamination or
temperature abuse. Typically a list of all food discarded will on the
health department report. It is expected that the product will be
voluntarily discarded.
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Contesting violations on reports
Always ask yourself:
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Is this really a violation based on food code?
Is this worth contesting?
Is it a critical violation?
Are they asking us to change the way we operate?
Is this an expensive fix?
Did this violation lead to a downgrade or a fine?
Is this a repeat violation or the first time it has been cited?
These answers will help determine if the risk of highlighting this issue is
worth the reward of having the violation reversed.
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Health Department Inspections
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FDA Retail Food Code
The FDA puts out a Food Code that is designed to assist state and
local health jurisdictions.
This code is based on science and current research that state and
counties could not afford to do on their own.
The California Retail Food Safety Coalition helps write the Cal food
code. They meet 2-3 times per year and are open to all industry reps.
The code is now re-published every 4 year but a supplement can
published every 2 years.
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FDA Risk Factors:
The FDA commissioned a 10 year three phase study on retail food
safety and the factors that lead to foodborne illness by conducting
inspections at restaurants, grocery stores and Institutional Food
Service locations
The studies identified the below five Risk Factors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Food From Unsafe Sources
Poor Personal Hygiene
Inadequate Cooking
Improper Holding/Time Temperature
Contaminated Equipment /Protection from Contamination
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FDA Risk Factors: Deli’s
The below summary of data from Retail Deli’s is below:
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Local County Changes and Interpretations
Local Health Jurisdiction (LHJ) can further adopt more strict standards.
Typically this will be done via their interpretation however some will
have additional requirements that are adopted by their Board of
Health.
These additional requirements are usually in response to an outbreak.
Examples include:
• Food Worker Card requirement in San Diego, Riverside and San
Bernardino Counties.
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Local County Interpretations and Consistency
Consistency from inspector to inspector is always an issue. Even in
counties and health departments each inspector can interpret and
score violations differently.
The FDA began to put together standardization guidelines for LHJ’s.
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Local county inspections
Types of inspections:
1.
Pre-Opening – Verify plan review changes (one time only inspection)
2.
Routine Inspection – Routine inspection for annual operating permit.
Conducted 1-4 times per year depending on permit type.
3.
Complaint inspection – Inspector will go out and address a specific
complaint received by the department. Many times they will also do a
routine inspection.
4.
Re-visit/Re-inspection – Follow-up audit from routine visit. Typically within
30 days. Many times they will only focus on the violations from last audit
but they can do an entirely new audit.
5.
Foodborne illness investigation – Investigation related to possible food
borne illness complaint from public or confirmed case from doctor.
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Plan Review
Plan Review is the requirement that all retail food establishments be
approved by the Local Health Jurisdiction before they begin to
operate. This ensures that the facility is built to meet all
specifications in food code.
Specific Items addressed include:
• Design and layout of facility
• Finishes of floors, walls, ceilings
• Assessment of refrigeration capacity
• Requirements for produce and ware washing
• Dry storage, and employee break room
• Lighting capacity
• Changing equipment
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Plan Review
Facilities must also go through plan review when they:
• Remodel
• Significantly change their menu or offerings
• Change of ownership
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Plan Review - Process
Fill out and submit plans to Health Department
Health Department will
approve plans
Health Department will reject
plans with comments
Construction begins / Changes are made to the
facility
Facility will let Plan Review know that they are
ready for inspection
Inspector verifies that
everything was
built/changed per approved
plans. Facility approved
Inspector finds items not
done per approved plans.
Items must be fixed and
inspection re-done
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Plan Review Guidelines for Grocery Stores
Each health department will have their own specific guidelines and
permit requirements but in general:
Grocery Permits – Many counties base permits of grocery stores on #
of check stand units. Adding or subtracting may change type of
permit
Deli Permit – Sampling stations and other food processing activities
typically will be classified as deli or restaurant.
Produce Permit – Cutting and washing of produce could require a
produce permit
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Temporary Events
Temporary Events such as BBQ’s are not covered under the current
operating permit and will require a temporary event permit.
Each health department will have their own cost and variations of
required permits.
Applications typically need to be filled out and submitted to the health
department for review ahead of the event.
Operating a temporary event without a permit can lead to closure and
fines.
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Temporary Events
Typically at each event the health department will show up and conduct
an inspection. Violation should be corrected on site.
Most the operating requirements will be the same from county to
county:
1. Hand washing station (soap, paper towels, waste bucket and 5
gallon thermal container)
2. Sanitizer
3. Hot and cold holding equipment
4. Protection for the outside elements
5. Thermometers
6. Food worker cards or certified manager
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Pricing Inspections
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What is a Weights & Measures Violation
• Guidance of a weights and measures violation is established by the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
o California has their own Weights and Measures manual and interpretation
• There are 3 types of weights and measures inspections:
o Price Accuracy – consumers are being charged the same as advertised
o Weight & Tare – packages are labeled to have a net weight and service employees
take the proper tare at the cashier.
o Scale Verification – scales are accurate and calibrated
• Even 1 overcharge or weight error can lead to a notice of violation.
How to Read Your Audit
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Escalating Consequences
• One violation over $1.00 can lead to a court appearance
• When inspectors learn of a systemic issue, they visit dozens of
stores at the same time
• Repeated violations could lead to statewide injunctions
• California is becoming more vigilant in seeking and prosecuting
pricing violations
• The Federal Trade Commission estimates that 30% of stores have
less than a 98% price accuracy
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What Does Your Internal Program Look
Like?
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What you can do
• Set up a quality program
o Assign designated roles to address regulatory reports
• Compliance should be measured and recorded to management on a
routine basis
• Do you use an internal or 3rd party inspection?
o What do you do with the data you capture?
o Who manages your program?
Thank you!
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