PEQ Facility Standard Update
A new quarantine facility Standard became effective in March 2017. The Standard was released in early in 2916 and required updates to facility structure, introduced operator training and the requirement for a facility opening manual (the latter being a new requirement for Level 2 operators who account for the majority of facilities). Over the last year most active facilities have met the new structure requirements, and operators have completed training.
New operating manual requirements have been problematic however. Some operators have struggled to fully meet MPI requirements with multiple revisions being rejected.
Work with several operators and MPI resulted in a teleconference where concerns were aired and a useful solution and path forward agreed,
MPI confirmed that 46 facilities have submitted manuals and MPI consider 33 of these were close to completion, 13 required more major work and 11 facilities either had not yet submitted manuals or were currently inactive that
It was agreed that
- Those whose manuals (33) are close to complete will be approved to the new PEQ standard, with individual feedback on any areas for improvement. Targeted to complete approvals and feedback by end of October 2017. Final revision by March 2018.
- Those whose manuals (13) need major work will receive individualised comments and one-on-one assistance by MPI inspectors by the end of September before being approved to the new PEQ standard, and will have until the end of March 2018 to have made the required changes.
- Those who have not submitted manuals or are inactive will be requested to submit manuals for approval as soon as possible and be placed into either of the 2 groups above
- MPI inspectors have training in the PEQ standard scheduled.
- Existing approvals remain in place through to March 2018 or when replaced by the new one. During March 2018, outstanding manuals or issues will be reviewed and follow up confirmed.
