Due to the high volume of changes and regulatory requirements brought to the animal food industry by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) recently released a training video on a topic it's received multiple member questions on — the Qualified Individual.
F. L. Emmert Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, staff members used a recent lunch 'n' learn session as an opportunity to review the AFIA Qualified Individual training video and materials.
The FSMA animal food rule requires facilities to train Qualified Individuals who manufacture, process, pack or hold animal food to ensure those employees are qualified to perform their assigned duties. The AFIA training video provides information on animal food hygiene and animal food safety, including the importance of employee health and personal hygiene, as appropriate to the person's assigned duties. The Qualified Individual provisions go into effect when a facility is required to start complying with the animal food rule.
"The video discusses FSMA's requirement of facilities to keep records of Qualified Individual trainings and maintain those training records of current and former employees, two years post-employment," said Leah Wilkinson, AFIA vice president of legislative, regulatory and state affairs.
The video was released with related materials including a user guide, which contains an employee handout and quiz, and a sample sign-in sheet to help document the training. A version with Spanish subtitles is also available.
"We created this as a member benefit and want it to be as accessible as possible. AFIA members can stream it for free from our website or purchase the video for a nominal fee on a USB," said Wilkinson. "However, we know this is important information for all industry, so the training is also made available to non-members to purchase for a higher rate."
FSMA defines a Qualified Individual as those who have the education, training or experience (or combination) needed to manufacture, process, pack or hold safe animal food as appropriate to their assigned duties. In most cases, every individual in the facility, including temporary and seasonal workers, will be Qualified Individuals and need training, such as from this video. This training requirement is different than what is required for the Preventive Controls Qualified Individual.
