Hi there. I had my procedures mixed in with all other plant procedures and it is difficult to find what he (the auditor) is looking for. I am rewriting everything in a new book that follows the AIB standards numbering system. I had asked my auditor a few questions about the chemical control program and i am pasting his respone below which should help you with your question. The largest thing he looks for is the Owners, Actions and Timelines within a procedure. Each auditor has a different way of looking at the same thing so my auditor is looking for the below. At a different plant the auditor there didn't look for so much.
When you think you have a good system going and are ready, then maybe do an unscored audit and justify the expense as training. They will do the audit and show you all of the "holes" in your systems. Remember, what they look for is not only you have a procedure but do you (the plant) actually follow them. Hope the below helps!
That is a good question. Please let me answer it this way…The easiest and most efficient way to start writing the product safety procedures is to put into procedure format (Owners, Actions, and Timelines) the activities that are already being completed at your facility.
For example, remember that the Chemical Program is to be designed to provide a centralized approach to purchase and use of non-product chemicals. Document who was authorizing chemicals at the site yesterday and what process they were using to determine the level of chemical risk to products prior to saying, ”O.K.-go ahead and buy it.”.
After you have completed this step for each of the bullet points identified in the AIBI Standard, someone should review the procedure to ensure that it matches, and does not conflict with, any existing regulatory requirement, industry standard, or AIBI Standard. The best group of people to perform this review is YOU and your Product Safety Team !
You already have a team of Industry expert and a wealth of knowledge concerning HAZMAT and Employee Safety regulations. The AIBI Standard is not an attempt to lessen the importance of those in any way. The AIBI Standard is a supplement designed to incorporate the assessment of actual and potential product jeopardy to those other programs and to develop Prerequisite Programs to eliminate or reduce the potential product safety risks intrinsic in the running of a packaging manufacturing facility.
If when you get done writing, then reviewing the program as a team, you still are unsure about your Program, contact our AIBI offices at 1-800-633-5137. Ask the operator to connect you with our Regional Director on Call and run it by them. Each of the Directors has had extensive experience with auditing the Packaging Industry and they are ‘on call’ to answer your questions. If they cannot provide an answer immediately, they will hook you up with a Technical Expert, someone with specific work experience in Packaging who should be able to answer any questions that you still have in your mind.
I hope this is helpful – Good Luck with writing those procedures.