Unit of competency

Modification History

Application

This unit specifies the skills and knowledge required to implement and monitor plans to manage cockroaches, rodents and other common pests in complex operations where food, beverages or pharmaceuticals are handled, manufactured, produced or packaged under an external food safety and audit regime. The unit includes preparing work orders and schedules and allocating work to staff, applying pest management methods to treat the work site, and monitoring pest management reports to respond to issues and negotiate modifications to plans.

This unit is suitable for those using specialised knowledge to complete routine and non-routine tasks and using their own judgement to deal with predictable and sometimes unpredictable problems.

This unit requires the candidate to be a licensed pest management technician in order to undertake pest management work at sites where food, beverages or pharmaceuticals are handled, produced or packaged. For further information, check with the relevant regulatory authority.

Pre-requisite Unit

Nil

Unit Sector

Urban Pest Management

Elements and Performance Criteria

Foundation Skills

Candidates require:

• oral communication skills to use clear explanations, active listening and questioning skills to convey, clarify and confirm information provided to clients
• numeracy skills to:

• estimate scope of work involved in implementing pest management plans
• dilute and mix pesticides accurately for the required quantities and applications.

Unit Mapping Information

No equivalent unit.

Links

Companion volumes to this training package are available at the VETNet website - https://vetnet.gov.au/Pages/TrainingDocs.aspx?q=6f3f9672-30e8-4835-b348-205dfcf13d9b

Assessment requirements

Modification History

Performance Evidence

To demonstrate competency, a candidate must meet the performance criteria of this unit by implementing and monitoring pest management plans for two different sites involving complex operations selected from the following:

• dry food facility
• wet or liquid food facility
• food retail facility
• food service facility
• pharmaceutical facility.

In doing the above, the candidate must manage a minimum of four different pests consisting of cockroaches, rodents and two of the following:

• ants
• bed bugs
• bees and wasps
• birds
• fabric pests
• fleas
• flies
• mites
• occasional invaders: arthropods, millipedes, springtails and thrips
• paperlice
• spiders
• stored product pests.

Knowledge Evidence

To be competent in this unit, a candidate must demonstrate knowledge of:

• chemicals’ routes of entry into the human body and potential symptoms of exposure
• compliance requirements associated with implementing pest management plans for complex operations:

• Australian standards, quality assurance and certification requirements
• industry guides, advisory standards and relevant industry codes of practice including A Code of Practice for Pest Management in the Food Industry
• environmental requirements:

• clean up, containment or isolation of hazards
• emergency chemical spill control measures
• hazardous materials handling
• waste handling and disposal

• key requirements of commonwealth, state and territory legislation and local government regulations:

• chemical use, registers and manifests
• consumer protection
• dangerous goods
• environmental protection
• Food Standards Australia New Zealand and five food safety standards in Australia
• licensing for pest management
• pesticide use and chemicals approved for use in food facilities
• privacy
• public health and safety

• public health and safety:

• licence endorsements and conditions or limitations
• occupant notifications
• record of site conditions
• warning signs

• content and format requirements for pest management plans:

• advice on health, safety, environmental and other legislative matters
• advice on pest prevention strategies and strategies to maintain audit compliance
• details of pests and pest activity
• follow-up pest management advice, monitoring and call-back schedule
• mandatory notification requirements
• pest management options and methods
• pesticide application methods
• record keeping mandated by audit, licensing or regulatory requirements
• types and quantities of chemicals to be used

• ecology, biology, lifecycles, habits and harbourages of the following types of pests and risks to food, beverage or pharmaceutical businesses:

• ants
• bed bugs
• bees and wasps
• birds
• cockroaches
• fabric pests
• fleas
• flies
• mites
• occasional invaders: arthropods, millipedes, springtails, thrips
• paperlice
• rodents
• spiders
• stored product pests

• meaning and application of integrated pest management
• equipment and materials used for pest management in complex operations including personal protective equipment (PPE)
• reports, records and systems incorporating established performance indicators and benchmarks that support pest management plan monitoring:

• escalation triggers
• pest activity reports
• pest management system problem or action reports
• record keeping mandated by audit, licensing or regulatory requirements
• service logbooks
• site visit reports

• types of food, beverage or pharmaceutical handling or manufacturing sites which are audited for food safety and associated issues for pest management and using pesticides
• typical hazards associated with pest management in complex operations, and risk control measures for each:

• animal bites and stings
• chemical preparation, use, storage and disposal
• confined or restricted spaces
• electrical
• environmental contamination
• fire
• lighting
• manual handling
• moving vehicles and machinery
• noise
• remote locations
• respiratory
• slips and trips
• temperature
• ultraviolet radiation
• work at heights

• workplace policies and procedures that apply to implementing pest management plans for complex operations:

• client service
• equipment use and maintenance
• personal hygiene and sanitation
• records, documentation and reporting
• scheduling and work allocation
• work health and safety:

• emergency response procedures
• hazard identification, risk assessment and control using the hierarchy of control
• injury, dangerous occurrence and incident reporting
• safety data sheets (SDS) for pesticides and chemicals being used
• safe work practices including manual handling.

Assessment Conditions

Assessors must meet the requirements for assessors contained in the Standards for Registered Training Organisations.

Evidence of assessment for pest management activities specified in the performance evidence:

• must be based on direct observation and assessment of the candidate by an assessor
• must be in a real workplace for one site and may be simulated for one site provided the simulation allows demonstration of all performance criteria.

Candidates must have access to:

• workplace policies and procedures, pest management plan, audit specifications, compliance information, documentation, SDS and client information required to achieve the performance evidence
• access to work sites and pest problems required to achieve the performance evidence
• equipment and materials required for pest management plan implementation and to achieve the performance evidence
• PPE:

• eye, ear and respiratory protection
• site-specific PPE and clothing
• soap and towel
• sun protection

• relevant industry codes of practice including A Code of Practice for Pest Management in the Food Industry.

Links

Companion volumes to this training package are available at the VETNet website - https://vetnet.gov.au/Pages/TrainingDocs.aspx?q=6f3f9672-30e8-4835-b348-205dfcf13d9b