HACCP Internal Auditing checklists?

Hey Everyone,

I am new to this forum, found it on Google as I was desperately looking for some guidance. I am new to HACCP and I have just got a QA/Technical job. I need to design a checklist so I can internal audit but I am getting very confused with auditing our HACCP plans. I feel I am repeating myself when I audit other areas i.e. Our Cleaning Schedule.

Just to fill you in, we are a fresh produce supplier, the company grows grapes, dates, apples etc and we supply supermarkets.

I just don't know where to start!

Any guidance would be a great help.

Many Thanks

Dear Gemma Karsten,

Welcome to the forum!

The traditional HACCP does not specifically require an internal audit I think.

eg see this thread - http://www.ifsqn.com...p?showtopic=707

If you are referring to an auditable standard like BRC, that is a different question.???

Of course, no reason not to do IA if you are that enthusiastic

Suggestions any one ?

Rgds / Charles.C

Hi Charles,

Thanks for your reply. Yes I am referring to the BRC standards and Tesco Food Manufacturing standard. They specify that we must carry out an IA, and its the HACCP auditing that confuses me. Should I be just checking that there is prerequisites in place or am I risk assessing? there is so many questions!

Thanks Again
Gemma

Dear Gemma,

No direct experience BRC latest version however yr internal audit query is related to this thread perhaps -

http://www.ifsqn.com...showtopic=11714

Caz is familiar with BRC5 and tesco so can probably answer bettter than me. Or anybody else of course ?

You can see there are some variations in interpretation but the latest answers perhaps carry the vote.

There is a lot more stuff on this topic if you search +internal +audit in the refined search option.

Rgds / Charles.C

added - if any interest, here is a gap analysis for brc4 (credit bennii)

bennii_ver_4_BRC_gap_analysis.xls   41.5KB   511 downloads

Hi Charles,

Thanks for your help! I did initially do a search for internal auditing but wasn't getting anywhere. Thanks for the link, I will see if I get to speak to Caz in the meantime.

Best Regards

Gemma -

The easiest thing I found for internal auditing was to put the various BRC clauses in a spreadsheet (not familiar with Tesco) and audit to see if your programs/procedures/policies meet each clause requirement.

IF you are strictly internal auditing, then you should not be doing risk assessments - you should be assessing to see if they meet the defined criteria.

I am not sure what country you are in, but www.nsf.com - word search 'davis fresh' - may pull up some helpful info. David Fresh was an American auditing form focused on perishables, primarily fruits & veggies, bought out by NSF

I have one more suggestion

Hope you have Standard Operating procedures, Work Instructions, guidelines etc
Most of these procedures, WI, GL etc might be developed based on the BRC and tesco requirement ( See the reference of the SOPs)
If so, convert the important clauses in the SOPs, WI, GL etc to questions..
So each dept will have different check list to audit them.....

Rgds
Jomy Abraham

Dear,

You can take help from codex alimentarius HACCP guideline, and draft your own checklist.
Faisal Rafique

What I do is look at the various standards and at our own systems and before I start, I look for potential questions based upon what would meet the standards and best practice. Even if I know the factory well, I don't presuppose so I assume nothing is in place until I've seen it during that audit. So, for example, if you were discussing the cleaning prerequisite you might want to ask questions like:

Are cleaning schedules in place?
Have cleaning schedules been designed logically, e.g. based on microbiological risk or processing need?
Are people trained in cleaning? (Take a person's name and check.)
Are cleaning instructions in place?
Observe a cleaning activity and check it matches the instruction.
Are suitable cleaning chemicals in use?
Are cleaning chemicals diluted appropriately where needed?

etc...