MARLENE HANKEN | DATA PROGRAMS ANALYST, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Virtual Audits Offer a Solution for a Novel Problem
This year has been a wild six months full of obstacles and uncertainties. The emergence of COVID-19 has produced numerous unforeseen challenges and difficulties for the economy and agriculture has been no exception.
While it would be easy to dwell on the hardships and what seems like never-ending obstacles combating the spread of a novel virus, we find great pride and hope in the brilliant and adaptable minds of our members and industry partners. We are confident that our industry will meet these challenges head on as have the many agricultural pioneers of generations past. Western Growers is ready to meet those challenges with you. One challenge identified early on in the rise of COVID- related issues has been continuing audits while still adhering to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance on slowing the virus. Guidance requires a reduction in human contact, which in turn meant the pre-COVID in-person audit process
would present challenges when following guidelines to mitigate virus transmission. In light of the current situation and government suspension of domestic inspections, Western Growers and the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (CALGMA) worked together to launch a Virtual Desktop Audits Program to allow audits to continue while significantly reducing in-person contact. The virtual audits program relies on an online software platform developed by iFoodDecisionSciences that allows leafy greens handlers to upload audit documents to their own online repository for the auditor to access the day of an audit. This system allows for a segmented process, promoting security and an order that mimics the in-person audit process.
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JULY | AUGUST 2020
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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