8 replies to this topic

[lmalyon]

Hi All,
I have been bought into a pie factory to help them prepare for BRC, I have been through 2 previously but have never had this part to play in making sure the whole factory is up to standard.

Has anyone got any tips on where to start?? Everything is very basic here at the moment!!

Any tips, advice, documents would be a great help!

Many thanks

[Charles.C]

Dear Imalyon,

Welcome to the forum!

I presume you didn't mean 2 pies.

I also presume the pies include RTE varieties ? pork pies or ?

It rather depends what you mean by "basic". Is HACCP and 9001 implemented yet?

Do you have technical support ?

Rgds / Charles.C

[GMO]

I'd start with the BRC document itself and work through it. If they don't have a quality manual the BRC is a good framework to start one or at least use it as a framework to start collecting evidence towards BRC and find out where your gaps are. This way you effectively are auditing against the BRC standard, finding the gaps and working on closing them all at the same time.

What's your timescale? Word of warning, a slightly shaky but implemented system is often better (and audits better) than a brand new badly implemented system. If you're very close to the audit, I'd be wary about introducing lots of new paperwork unless it's completely necessary. A "halfway house" I've done in the past (where there was an awful HACCP plan) is prepare the HACCP plan as agreed by the HACCP team but not implement it prior to the audit (as that would have meant changing factory paperwork.) I should hasten to add there was nothing hazardous about this HACCP, it was just poorly written, poorly organised and identified several CCPs which shouldn't have been CCPs and also had loads of typos. When it came to audit, one of the typos was brought up (as it was around a critical limit) and I was able to show the auditor the new version and how the typo didn't affect food safety now and there was no non conformance. If I'd put it in place, I bet we would have missed some production paperwork somewhere and ended up with a non con due to wrong issue numbers.

[nitac]

I use an audit checklist that incorporates the brc standard as well as any legal requirements relating to the product in question. Start with anything in BRC thats listed as fundamental, as you can fail on these. Gap analysis will tell you where your showstoppers are.

Also; accept that you cant do it all on your own. Set up a steering group and deligete!! Get engineering to look after fabrication, HR to look after training etc.

How soon is your audit? i say anything less than 12 weeks and you are really up against it!!

[Jens Therkelsen]

Dear Imalyon,


I have seen a lot of systems build only for the purpose of acquiring a certain certification all with a very poor end result. The goal of your work should in the end bring the company to a higher level of food safety.

I would suggest you to take the BRC standard and compare it with their current system (GAP – analyse). When ever you come across documents that are applicable with the BRC requirements then note this on a list with a reference to the specific requirement. By doing so you will in the end have a complete list of all the missing items. This will also help you to calculate an achievable timeframe.

A word of advice. Keep the system simple and make sure that the employees take ownership of the system you build for them – this means among other things that the management must be aware of the fact that maintaining a quality system complying with the BRC standard most likely will require more resource than they are used to.



Good luck with the case

[lmalyon]

Thanks all for the advice. We are yet to set a date for the audit, so i should have plenty of time, its just difficult finding a starting point.
I like the sound of the gap analysing, they have many procedures and do many checks within the factory but none of it is documented.
I'm used to a very comprehensive detailed system, but it was working with fruit and veg so it was easier to get everything documented. They do have ISO9001, but i'd say the quality manual for that is no where near what is needed, or is it because im used to such a detailed system? Of course i will use the documents in place to start the basics of the BRC.

Thanks

[Tony-C]

Hi All,
I have been bought into a pie factory to help them prepare for BRC, I have been through 2 previously but have never had this part to play in making sure the whole factory is up to standard.
Has anyone got any tips on where to start?? Everything is very basic here at the moment!!
Any tips, advice, documents would be a great help!

Many thanks

Why don't you start by checking if you comply with the 10 fundamental requirements of BRC:

1. Management Commitment and Continuous Improvement Clause 1 – Senior management need to demonstrate commitment to meeting the requirements of the BRC standard by provision of sufficient resources, communication, review and taking actions to improve.
2. Food Safety Plan - Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Clause 2 – A multi-disciplinary team need to develop a Food Safety Plan based on CODEX HACCP principles that is comprehensive, implemented and maintained. The plan should reference legislation, codes of practice and relevant industry guidelines.
3. Internal Audits Clause 3.5 – There needs to be an effective audit system to verify that the food safety quality management system and relevant procedures cover the requirements of the standard, are effective and complied with.
4. Corrective Action and Preventative Action Clause 3.8 – Procedures need to be in place to investigate, analyse and correct non-conformances critical to product legality, quality and safety.
5. Traceability Clause 3.9 – A system needs to be in place to trace finished products by lot number from raw materials throughout the process to end products and their distribution to the customer. The system should be such that this information can be retrieved within a reasonable timescale.
6. Layout, Product Flow and Segregation Clause 4.3.1 – Facilities and equipment need to be designed, constructed and maintained to prevent contamination of the product and comply with relevant legislation.
7. Housekeeping and Hygiene Clause 4.9 Housekeeping and cleaning standards need to be maintained to achieve the appropriate hygiene standards and prevent the contamination of product.
8. Handling requirements for specific Materials – Materials containing Allergens and Identity Preserved Materials Clause 5.2 – Procedures need to be in place to control specific materials including allergens and identity preserved materials such that product legality, quality and safety is not affected.
9. Control of Operations Clause 6.1 – Procedures need to be in place to verify the effective operation of equipment and processes, in compliance with the food safety plan, so that product legality, quality and safety is assured.
10. Training Clause 7.1 – A system needs to be in place to demonstrate that personnel who can affect product legality, quality and/or safety are competent based on qualifications, training or work experience.

Failure to comply with any of these will result in non-certification.

Regards,

Tony

[Charles.C]

Dear imalyon,

I deduce from yr answer that the facility has yet to experience HACCP. I would politely suggest this might be a first priority since, very very crudely, BRC = ISO 9001 + HACCP.

Rgds / Charles.C

[DebD]

Hello,

I would suggest that in addition to the standard you also get a copy of the interpretation guidline (also from BRC) (if you haven't already!) as this breaks each clause down to give more information about what is expected to achieve compliance.

This certainly helped us when upgrading to version 5.

best of luck!