8 replies to this topic

[agnes]

Hi,



I work for big food manufacturer, where Health and Safety is a big priority and always comes first. I agree with that and I make sure I work safe and everyone around me too.

I would like to start similar thing for food safety but I don’t know how to start it and need your help.

- Have any of you successfully implemented something similar at your work place and how did you do it?

- Have you had a motto for it? If so what one?

- Have you used something like food safety near misses etc?



I would be most grateful if you could direct me and coach on that.



Thx,

Agnes

[Charles.C]

Hi,



I work for big food manufacturer, where Health and Safety is a big priority and always comes first. I agree with that and I make sure I work safe and everyone around me too.

I would like to start similar thing for food safety but I don’t know how to start it and need your help.

- Have any of you successfully implemented something similar at your work place and how did you do it?

- Have you had a motto for it? If so what one?

- Have you used something like food safety near misses etc?



I would be most grateful if you could direct me and coach on that.



Thx,

Agnes

Dear Agnes,

Something like the BRC Food Standard perhaps ??

Rgds / Charles.C

[agnes]

Thanks Charles :)

We are BRC (A) certified, M&S, Campden etc.

I was thinking something like Food Safety newspaper, some sort of monthly talks, toolboxes etc.

Agnes

[DocGra]

Hello Agnes,

Raising the profile of Food Safety amongst your colleaguesis an admiral aspiration - a bit like raising the Titanic - with enough publicityyou can do it ….

We have lots of ways to encourage our small band ofco-workers to keep food safety in the front of their minds, I hope some of thefollowing will spark ideas for you too:

Training: SOP reviews.SOPs are laid out precisely the way they are to achieve food safety, food qualityand regulatory compliance. Your toolbox talk scenario is a good place to reviewSOPs and to discuss them from the perspective of food safety - a double hitsince your review will help support BRC requirements too. Review them with theteam who perform them, I've found both parties usually learn (with respect).Youcan extend the 'review with others' approach to almost every facet of your QMSand HACCP - and every one will have an opportunity to define, discuss and understandfood safety aspects.

Complaint feedback:We have staff briefings once per week and once a month we review the more significantcomplaints, sometimes root causes are discussed (eg dirty filling) but always,the food safety implications are discussed (eg - food contamination on theoutside of the package leads to microbial growth that can cross contaminatefood when the consumer opens the container).

Near misses: We collect,record and report 'food safety issues' as Internal finds, Customer complaintsand Consumer complaints. Internal finds are our 'near misses'; we found thembefore they left our control. This is an opportunity to give credit where itsdue to who ever 'found' the issue - it promotes vigilance, we regard everyoneon site as part of the inspection team. We mention the significant finds at thebriefing sessions and name the individual or team who made the find. We alsodiscuss root cause and always get back to food safety.

Hygiene audits:We ask our supervisors to conduct these, they have had training and are armedwith a 5 page checklist, they inspect their areas at least every two weeks andreport back to the Technical Dept. The items that require attention areassigned and when complete, the Supervisor returns to verify efficacy. Hygieneis close to food safety so here is another opportunity for training, vigilanceand debate between Technical and Supervisors, and Supervisors and Operators. Incidentally,we ask supervisors to inspect each other's areas every other audit - we findthe 'home' audit reports are often shorter than the 'away audits' - I have afeeling supervisors skip the assign, fix and verify stages and simply get 'stuffsorted' rather than make a report - so the QA Manager accompanies a different supervisor every audit time - to maintainstandards and do a bit more 'on the job' training! The TM uses the reports /zone hygiene scores in the Monthly Technical Review and the staff briefings sothere are lots of 'other uses' here.

Signs and start-upchecks: We have a number of systems that need start-up checks beforeproduction can begin - so the start-up routine is posted on the wall close to themachine by way of a table; column headingsare step, action, verification, reason (eg on a capper: step 5; flush the steamline by opening valve 7, close it when condensate stops and steam vapour hasescaped for 10 seconds, to pre-heat the line and avoid dumping condensate into thefirst few containers that will contaminate the product). The operator isrequired to sign off the steps and connects his actions with food safety. Totop it off, there are a number of signs in the area that remind operators whythey do certain things on a regular basis (eg hygienic handling, changingprotective clothing, washing hands when ever they touch something not known tobe clean and so on …)

Sorry to go on … and on … but I think you are starting something of great value. In my mind, FoodSafety comes before Health and Safety.

If food safety procedures are followed, then operator safetywill result as a by product - so long as food safety routines have operatorsafety built in.

I'm sure that statement will cause a stir amongst the expertshere - but the reason why our companies continue to exist is because ourproducts are safe to eat - as well as safe places to earn our salaries and somaintaining that status must come first.

Make Food Safety the subject of every conversation.

Good luck and kind regards,

Graham

[adarsh Immanuel]

Hi,



I work for big food manufacturer, where Health and Safety is a big priority and always comes first. I agree with that and I make sure I work safe and everyone around me too.

I would like to start similar thing for food safety but I don’t know how to start it and need your help.

- Have any of you successfully implemented something similar at your work place and how did you do it?

- Have you had a motto for it? If so what one?

- Have you used something like food safety near misses etc?



I would be most grateful if you could direct me and coach on that.



Thx,

Agnes

Hi Agnes,

It would be allways a Challenging tast to bring any kind of new implimentation. If your firm is certified for OSHAS or EMS It would be easy for you to impliment.

Combine the certification of 22000 with 14001 and 18001. All the formats and procedure will relined into one. This would help you to bring all under one system.

Regards,

[agnes]

Hi,

Thanks for all of your reply.
I am doing all of the stuff already mentioned by Graham, which I didn’t realise I was
I have put a board on the shop floor to add some photos and posters, but still thinking about catchy motto.


Thanks again.

[GMO]

I think the real change in Health and Safety in recent years has been the focus on behavioural safety and I think this is what you mean. It's cultural change you need right?

One of the outcomes of behavioural safety initiatives in one place I worked in was to encourage all managers to talk to someone every day about safety. This could be positive or negative. We brought in a very similar system at the same time for food safety.

Have I brought in this system at my new employer? No. Not yet. We're a way off that for a start and secondly, the system which was insisted upon by my manager was unwieldy and it was just another tool to hit people with in an antagonistic work place. That all said, some people used it really well and by 8 different people having a conversation about food safety and quality with a person on the shop floor (of about 60) that meant within an average month, each person would have been spoken to more than once. Imagine the power of that? We passed BRC that year btw with only 2 minors...

So this is something I will be bringing in soon. I may face some rolling of eyes mind you.

For me, changing quality cultures is not about snappy catchphrases and I agree with all the PP, yes all of those things help but, in the end, you need a way to make quality / food safety part of the fabric of your site like H&S should be (and is in many workplaces nowadays). H&S is very rarely a one person job nowadays. Most managers accept it's part of their remit and this is one of the ways to drive that ownership with quality and food safety.

[zue_rais]

what about the motto "Food Safety Pays BIG Dividend!!"

Rgds, Zue

[zue_rais]

what about "Food Safety Pays BIG Dividends!!!"