3 replies to this topic

[MrNewbe]

Hello everyone!

 

As the title says am new to the BRC.

I'm young and new to the company. So I really want to show what I can do with the BRC certification.

 

More or less it is a big business that requires us to BRC!

So do you have any tips on what to do and what to avoid? 

 

Thanks in advance!

[DavidAR]

Welcome to the forum,

 

last year i too was pumped up to BRC compliant officer at my site and i never had worked with the standard it self so it was very daunting.

 

V7 BRC that has rescently been published and this site is very good with a large number of experienced members who will try to help given time.

 

i would ask a question however, is your site already certified? If it is not which im expecting then there is a a new Enrolement programe called BRC global markets programme, its aimed at small / new buisinesse who are stretching their legs to implement the global standard.

 

This is the starting point for your buisiness i would imagine unless you are certified already in which case your personell development is the real issue for you right now.

 

There have been many conversion courses from BRC V6 to V7 of which i attended one of the latest and i found it very helpful in terms of personel development in understanding the BRC requirements, however for you starting out i would d othe following:

 

1) Get a copy of the new V7 standard, digital or hardcopy, this is a brc requirement it self however i would advise registering and subscribing to BRC participate as it costs the same as a book and you can then download the standards (all of em) access forums and news bulletens and also guidelines / interpretation guidlines to the standards them selves.

 

2) if your not a qualified auditor, you need to get your self trained there are internal auditor courses that cover all standads of BRC / ISO because the course is about auditing these types of standards.

 

3) presumably you have some kind of food safety training, if not this would be needed before 2) Food safety level 3 for supervisors in manufacturing as a minimum and then HACCP level 2 minimum.

 

With that completed you can start to work on your companies QMS system, (if it has one built) this would be true regardless of if you are part o fthe so called enrollment programme of you ar shooting for the stars and going for either a full unannounced audit or Announced audit.)

 

I presume you would be Announced at this stage, and you can then systematicaly work through the standard (auditing) to determine what areas you need to work on (gap analysis) an audit will be required to allow you to plan this out over a year too.

 

The way it works being you audit clauses or sections checking for comlpiance and non compliance and taking the appropriate actions.

 

by the end of the year by process of repetition you will have a system that could stand up to the scrutiny of BRC auditors :)

 

Hope this helps...

[MrNewbe]

Thanks for the answer! 

 

No we are not certified yet. But we have been forced by a major customer to acquire BRC!

 

Today we have an external auditor to help us with many things. But it costs a lot. So I'll talk to my boss if it would have been better to train me!

 

I have HACCP training but nothing more.

 

But I wonder if "Interpretation Guideline" that you can buy is worth the money? Or is it rubbish?

[DavidAR]

Ok well im sure you will leanr this for your self as time goes by, however allow me to point it true.

 

1) Section 1 of the standard resource and comitment!

 

I hate it when companys start complaining about how much it costs, because without that comitment and budget the BRC system can not function!! not to mention its a FUNDAMENTAL requiement, meaning if you dont have that comitment and resource you will fail the audit straight away. (if you dont have the man power on site <costs money> youl need consultants to work on site alot! <costs money> either way!)

 

2) being uncertified means you have alot more work and the resource and comitment will be a lot greater. depending on if you going to be fully BRC or go for starter version under the global markets scheme.

 

as you are the lead on this project it means that you will require training to a set level, because the auditor will look at training of the personell on site and focus on key personell liek your self, HACCP team etc.

 

*********Did you know (correct me if i am wrong people!) you need food safety training as a pre-requisite to the level of HACCP training you are undertaking.*********

every course i have seen on HACCP mentions this pre-req or PRP alot. it serves as the foundation to understanding of food safety when applying that too HACCP principals.

 

So if i audited your site and you only had HACCP level 2 and nothing else, i would fail the audit on that! for many reasons.

 

I strongly sugest getting food safety level 3 for supervisor course done, dont do the online rubbish courses. Attend a real work shop best money can by in my opinion! as you will get a good interaction and many of your million questions answered.

 

If your worried about level 3 undertake a level 2 course 1st, and if really GREEN i guess £15 online level 1 foundation will get in the door..

 

3) Then get your level 3 HACCP done Theese 2 courses will give you tools to implement a propper HACCP system. (section 2 requirement and food safety law!)

 

4) Attend an internal auditing course on BRC standards, they cover BRC/ISO and can be applied to general auditing as the methodology of auditing is almost the same.

 

You will be doing alot of audits !!!!

 

 

 

interpretation guideline! now i wouldnt expect you to know right now but V7 has an update talking about having copies of the standard available (nothing new) but included reference to being able to get information about policy changes issued by BRC after the issues is released.

 

A way to do this is to register and subscribe to BRC participate as a single user costing around £100 a year. this subscription allows you to obtain by download all standards of BRC, interpretation guidelines and other guides etc, traceability for one.

 

100% recomend this! as the interpretation is very handy for new comers and even now im class my self as new and i have a printed colour copy beside me at all times! along with my billion notes.

 

hope this helps.