b'IN THE AGE OFJENNIFER SCOTT REMEMBERSvividly the day the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pan-demic. She was flying home from Winnipeg, having just COVID, LABfinished a seed grader course. She teaches between four and six of those courses across Canada every year.Audits and inspections have always been done in person. When the pandemic hit, it totally changed how SAFETY IS TOPaudits and inspections were done and in April of 2020 we had to make those changes very quickly, she says.Scott has worked in the Canadian seed industry since PRIORITY 1997. As manager of client programs with Seeds Canada based in London, Ont., shes responsible for three major initiatives: the oversight of the seed pro-gram that Seeds Canada delivers on behalf of the Canadian Food Working in a laboratory setting is a challengeInspection Agency (CFIA); the these days, to say the least. We talk to twoidentity preservation and food safety programs it delivers experts on how to play it safe when in closeon behalf of the Canadian quarters. Marc Zienkiewicz Grain Commission; and the organic certification pro-gram delivered on behalf of CFIA.Scott designs the tools that auditors and inspectors use in terms of forms and policy, and she also has overall responsibility for the training of all Seeds Canada auditors and inspectors across the country. Jennifer ScottShe says doing her job when the pandemic hit was a whole new ball game. Workplace safety both for Seeds Canada auditors and their clients became more crucial than ever, and Scott found herself navigating a complex array of public health requirements depending on where she found herself.For Scott, doing audits and inspections in the age of COVID means being flexible.We conduct business across Canada, and that means that youre dealing with provincial health regulations in a lot of different jurisdictions. In Ontario, were split into public health units. Each public health unit can operate as its own entity and have its own requirements. Our instructions to our auditors and inspectors from the beginning was to be mindful of whats required of you by law where youre working.For an auditor to go on-site, both they and the client had to feel safe.Some companies have a policy of not allowing anyone whos not an employee on the premises, and that has to be respected. Some people have health concerns, which can be a factor. Our organic farm inspections are mainly done outside, which made it a lot easier, of course.The good news was that modern technology allowed Seeds Canada to do its audits and inspections remotely.4GERMINATION.CANOVEMBER 2021'