How do these six elements of food safety plans link to an effective HACCP program? Here are the seven governing principles of HACCP: (1) conduct a hazard analysis; (2) identify critical control points; (3) establish critical limits for each critical control point; (4) establish monitoring; (5) establish corrective actions; (6) establish procedures to ensure the HACCP system is working as intended; and (7) establish record-keeping procedures.
The correlation between FSMA’s requirements and HACCP is clear: a food establishment with a well developed and administered HACCP plan should meet FSMA requirements. The key element in the process is the “qualified” person who will develop and administer the plan. Preparing individuals to work in such an environment is critical to the success of an effective food safety system.
The Importance of Your ‘Qualified’ Person
A successful HACCP system depends on a cohesive blend of people in the process and facilities where the practices take place. Facilities and equipment should drive safe food-handling practices by employees who understand their role in the process and have been properly trained.
An effective manager in an HACCP environment understands not only the facility requirements and limitations, but also the commitment of management and workers to deal with programs that impact a food safety management system designed along HACCP principles.
The ultimate goal is to take the right actions to ensure safe food for consumers, and developing and maintaining an effective food safety management system is key to attaining this goal.
To be robust, the management system must be underpinned with individuals who are competent in implementing the process—and such competency has to be consistent and verifiable.
The Role of Training
For years, with guidance by organizations like the International HACCP Alliance and others, companies have developed training programs for individuals who would be deemed “qualified.”
The burden of proof for qualification ultimately became the quality and integrity of the HACCP plan itself, and its implementation. For companies hiring someone to develop and implement a plan, most trusted that the individual had obtained the requisite knowledge from one of the many courses offered for HACCP managers and auditors.
There is no argument: training is vitally important. High-quality training programs are essential for food workers and these programs make it possible to achieve the competence and consistency necessary to ensure a safe food system.
The key to determining the value of the training is understanding how training relates to learning and the application of knowledge to the job.
