TurfPlus a new turf production accreditation program for the Turf Industry is now well and truly rolling-out across the country with much praise from growers who have adopted the system. Katie Fisher explains.
TurfPlus is the much-needed turf accreditation program that provides growers with the assurance that their entire production chain adheres to a stringent set of quality standards.
Launched in 2018, the compliance program has branded itself as an Integrated Management System that caters to turf growers’ needs, right along the chain of production.
Above: Dave Raison from TurfPlus.
According to Dave Raison from TurfPlus the program takes the “pain and headache out of compliance in a number of areas with the initial focus on Work, Health and Safety (WH&S) and Quality Assurance (QA).
“In developing the program, we found that the new Chain of Responsibility (CoR) Laws around transport and Environmental Management (EMS) compliance we’re bigger issues for growers, and what gave them even more grief on-farm were concerns around Human Resources (HR),” Dave said.
“So now, we have a solid compliance and accreditation program that covers these five main areas for growers: WH&S, CoR, EMS, QA and HR.”
Dave reiterated that “…TurfPlus gave growers the advanced tools and training to achieve compliance and best-practice in these areas; there’s nothing out there that compares to such a specialist system for growers”.
“Turf growers know they have to be compliant, but most find it difficult to understand the compliance process – TurfPlus bundles all this in together into a user-friendly management system,” he said.
Training is a key part of the program which is delivered by an external registered organisation for specialised areas such as, traffic and chemical management, manual handling procedures, CoR and managing an efficient operation.
“We assist growers in aligning the program with their own farm management plan,” Dave said. “It’s important to make the integration as easy as possible for the growers.”
To apply for the program a grower contacts TurfPlus who first performs an audit on the farm. The audit assesses where the business is placed in terms of accreditation and compliance and if, and how, the system will work for them.
Depending on the size of the turf operation the cost can range from $6,000 to $20,000 a year.
“The program is tailored to suit large operations with about 30 employees down to small operations with about two to five employees,” Dave explained.
What sets TurfPlus apart from other programs is that it is a cloud-based system that links all the components together to take it far beyond what paper-based systems can do.
A cloud-based is a term that refers to applications, services or resources made available to users on demand via the Internet from a cloud computing provider’s server.
The online nature of the program is said to allow for everything to be always up-to-date and keep growers abreast of the latest laws and legislation.
What sets TurfPlus apart from other programs is that it is a cloud-based system that links all the components together to take it far beyond what paper-based systems can do.
“This is an incredible suite of tools that we’ve bought together into the program, but we don’t pretend to be something that we’re not,” Dave stressed.
Dave added that “… we don’t claim to be certifiers. We’re determined to maintain our independence and credibility and that involves certification being carried-out by qualified external auditors”.
The TurfPlus team will prepare growers and have them audit-ready for all standards, including international, such as ISO 9001 for Quality, ISO 14001 for Environmental Management or ISO 45001 for WH&S.
For more information about TurfPlus contact T: 1300 094 577.
Case Study – Advance Turf
Joanna Hulland from Advance Turf in Victoria has adopted the TurfPlus Production Accreditation Program for two reasons; the need to change the onfarm safety management attitude and the large amount of red tape faced with running a business.
“If something goes wrong on the farm we now have a single software system that has all the data and details to cover our business,” Joanne said.
For Joanna, farm safety has become a significant and pivotal focus for the business.
The importance of farm safety was emphasised to the Hulland family two years ago when Joanna’s father-in-law tragically died after a tractor trailer rolled over him while feeding out hay. The accident occurred in an isolated area and it was hours before the 78-year-old veteran farmer was located.
Following a 000 call, astonishingly a WorkCover officer arrived on the scene before the ambulance.
“Workcover were quite aggressive, had all guns blazing and unfairly speculated why the accident occurred,” Joanna explained.
“It wasn’t until they realised that my father-in-law was the landowner that they calmed down.
“Now if anything was to happen like that on the farm thanks to TurfPlus we can easily report all the documentation associated with us being safety compliant.”
Joanna’s background in financial auditing has given her a good grounding about the importance of having an efficient paper trail.
“The TurfPlus program makes the safety auditing so much more efficient and allows us to constantly keep track of the changes occurring around the farm,” she said.
“It is relatively easy to use and can be integrated to fit in with your existing business plan.”
The ability to easily download policies and modify them to suit Advance Turf’s business has also been beneficial.
“If you don’t understand something or have a new staff member that is causing issues TurfPlus is proactive in addressing the problem promptly and being a great support,” Joanna explained.
Advance Turf has adopted the TurfPlus Work, Health & Safety, Human Resources and Logistics modules.
Case Study – Glenview Turf
For Glenview Turf’s Kiralee Banbury adopting the TurfPlus Accreditation Program was an easy decision. The program has provided her with the security that the Queensland business adheres to the stringent set of quality standards along the entire turf production chain.
Kiralee explained how, already, the program had significantly reduced the amount of paperwork outputted from all the different workstations such as machinery.
“Everything is now becoming electronic and so much easier to manage,” she said.
“At the start TurfPlus gives us a detailed checklist of how the operation can be better managed in terms of safety compliance. They came to the farm and explained how I could improve the management of the backend of the business.”
“It is such a good system that manages everything together. It assists your business in becoming more tech savvy and removes the need to store copious amounts of paperwork.”
The Glenview team now uses mobiles to relay data and information from a particular workstation back to the office where it is downloaded on the TurfPlus home screen.
“It is much more efficient than piles of papers and once I am notified that a report has been submitted, I can easily log in and record the data,” Kiralee explained.
“For example, equipment issues can be logged in and I can also make sure the different teams enter their daily tasks and outcomes. If there is an issue we can immediately address it.”
Central to the accreditation operation is a Tool Box which allows the office and field staff to view what is happening in the separate areas.
“It means the whole team is all on the same page and knows what everyone is doing,” Kiralee said.
“It is such a good system that manages everything together. It assists your business in becoming more tech savvy and removes the need to store copious amounts of paperwork.”