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COVID-19 health and safety audits launched
With 30 years in the industry, the LTL Group has evolved into an instrumental part of the food safety landscape in South Africa. Operational and technical manager Joubert De Roubaix speaks to us regarding the current situation and how the group can assist in mitigating foodborne risk.
COVID-19 is something the food, beverage and packaging industries are going to have to deal with – even though this is unchartered territory for most of the industry.
“With our experience and knowledge, we can find an affordable way to help the industry and the greater community,” De Roubaix explains. “In addition to our usual hygiene, health and safety audits we’ve introduced COVID-19 inspections coupled to post-cleaning walk-throughs. During these inspections, we can take a risk-based approach to your facility. Our internal auditors take environmental swabs, which will be tested at a SANAS-accredited laboratory, using an internationally approved COVID-19 environmental test kit.”
LTL has partnered with MLS National Laboratories Services and Supplies, which boasts a large national and international footprint with laboratories located in Midrand and Cape Town. “We can now ensure that regardless of where the audit takes place, we will get the samples to the laboratory in a timely manner and our clients will get their results as soon as possible. The tests currently used by the labs to test for COVID-19 is a RT-PCR kit that can rapidly detect the SARS-COV-2 virus,” he enthuses.
“We want to work with our current and prospective clients to ensure that their facility and products are the safest they can be. All our auditors have the required knowledge and experience. We’ve implemented extra precautions to ensure the safety of the auditors as well as the industry and will guarantee that they follow the plans put in place by the facilities they audit, as well as our own. We are currently working with the following industries: retail, petroleum sites, QSR, restaurants, catering, manufacturing, hotels, farms, packhouses, abattoirs and more. Our aim is to work with our clients to ensure they are all doing what they can do to guarantee a continuous supply of safe food to our country while keeping the risk of COVID-19 transmissions as low as possible,” De Roubaix concludes. •
