BRC 4.11.4 - Question about securing bait traps

This clause states that "Bait stations, glue boards and/or sticky traps shall be robust, of tamper resistant construction, secured in place"...Does this mean each bait station has to be secured in place so that unauthourized personnel can not take the bait stations?

OOps what I meant to ask was do the ones without bait.. just normal tin mouse traps need to be secured as well? Or is this only if there is bait?

Each bait trap location should be numbered in accordance with the pest control plan. The bait locations should have been determined by risk assessment, so you want them to stay in place. Having baits fixed in position helps them to stay in place. There are various methods for fixing bait traps in place such as chains, wires and shoes that the baits clip in to.

I hope that makes sense.

Yep I agree, we secure toxic and non toxic (non baited) traps more to avoid them wandering than anything else.

Jenmaw ,
I hope yourent confused about security of bait traps. Wheter toxic or non toxic those traps are generally should be made of hard material which is not easy to be broken. Well maintained so that the bait inside should be in safe&secured and under lock of an authorised person.
As Simon said; you have to(or your pest control firm has to) know/record which one in which location in your plant. If you ask for sticky rat trappers; to me ; you should also make sure (with chain or identification boards etc) that sticky think is under control that can not be used by unauthrsd. person.

hope this helps
Aegean

OOps what I meant to ask was do the ones without bait.. just normal tin mouse traps need to be secured as well? Or is this only if there is bait?

It should be sufficient to only secure the exterior baitstations. Most have a hasp that can easily be locked.

Dear jenmaw,

Is yr internal location prone to theft of mouse-traps or something ?

The basic logistical / geographical / auditing idea is as per Simon's post.

The risk assessment of not anchoring will presumably depend on yr operation / the toxicity of any bait (or perhaps its value ). One possibility to an improper arrangement is a highly negative response from local pet-owners if yr external area is freely accessible.!

Rgds / Charles.C

It should be sufficient to only secure the exterior baitstations. Most have a hasp that can easily be locked.

The BRC standard quite clearly states that bait stations should be secured regardless of whether they are internal or external and in my experience that is what the auditor would be looking for.

We use Ecolab and this is one of the 'upgrades' they need to implement to move us to having a BRC acceptable programme. They seem to know exactly what changes we need to make.
(I wish all the changes we have to make were as easy as bolting down a few rat traps...)

Dear All,

One might have thought that securing the location of the bait was a more meaningful requirement. Or are we talking about Mighty Mouse?

Rgds / Charles.C

Jenmaw,

IMO it is best to secure all traps including glue boards which can be enclosed within a pest trap. All areas should be assessed from both the Food Safety standpoint as well as the Food Defense standpoint. Although I have yet to experience a BRC audit, I have been through a few standard food audits which have all had a Food Defense Program requirement. Although it may not be likely that you have a bionic rat that can drag an unsecured trap away, you may want to consider the possibility malicious activity from within (employees or unauthorized persons). If you do in fact have a Food Defense Program, the pest traps will fit right in.

Having a Food Defense Program may only be common with US facilities - as food manufacturers, processors, packers and storage operators within or supplying to the US are required to register with the FDA as part of the Bio Terrorism Act.

I will say that I drove myself mad by over analyzing every possible malicious act than can occur.

Regards,

EmmE

Quick question related to this (sort of...): What is the distance from the wall that pallets etc are supposed to be to allow for inspection for pest activity? Thanks.

Quick question related to this (sort of...): What is the distance from the wall that pallets etc are supposed to be to allow for inspection for pest activity? Thanks.

BRC doesn't specify this. It says off the floor and away from walls as appropriate. I have seen 40cm quoted by the FAO.

Regards,

Tony

Quick question related to this (sort of...): What is the distance from the wall that pallets etc are supposed to be to allow for inspection for pest activity? Thanks.

Dear D-D

It depends.
If you refer to a chill store, then the question might has not sense since you will not place a bait inside; but the answer to your question ( from a food safety point of view) will be: " enough distance to allow cleanliness activities".

If you refer to ambient conditions storage the answer is the same as above. Then, once you have comply with it it should be enough to carry out inspections for pest activity.

Can anybody think about a scenario which the above does not apply with?

BEst regards
Esther

0.5m is usually sufficient to look down behind pallets and if necessary 'squeeze down

What should be the distance between each tin cats?

What should be the distance between each tin cats?

 

 i assume you mean the internal tincats-I  dont know if there is a proper distance- this should  generally be based on risk..

 The norm starts at 20-40 feet but each of the doors- especially receiving- is treated as suspect (unless proven otherwise) and therefore must have one on each side

Hello,

 

How some peoples already says - the standard is clear - all baits. If the standard whant to tell only external or only internal will specified in te requirement. As you can see in the standard, if they require something based on the hazard analysis, they write exatcly - based on the jazard analysis and associated risks. In that case all bites (internal and external) should be fixed on the place were they shoul be based on the map and should be locked. You can take non-conformity if they are not locked not only for this clause but and for the food defence. How i know before 1 or 2 years in Poland they have a case with employee who left and on the last day he took poison from one bait which are not locked and put it in the product. After that 3 people are die and one of them were chiled. :(

 

Best regards,

Ivan