7 replies to this topic

[gagansaini1]

Hi

 

 We are preparing for SQF level 2 certification. one of the requirement for that is to conduct internal audit. We pack fresh fruits and vegetables. Can anyone provide me with the checklist for the internal auditing for the fulfilment of the requirement.

 

Thanks

[Simon]

Some audit checklists that may help you.

 

Regards,

Simon

[ladytygrr]

Hi

 

 We are preparing for SQF level 2 certification. one of the requirement for that is to conduct internal audit. We pack fresh fruits and vegetables. Can anyone provide me with the checklist for the internal auditing for the fulfilment of the requirement.

 

Thanks

Hello,

 

I have been an internal auditor for other, non-food quality systems such as API (American Petroleum Institute), ISO 17025, and others and I made it a habit to turn the standard into my internal audit. What better way to ensure you're auditing all of the sections of the standard which are appropriate to you? Of course, if you have items which should be audited outside of the scope of the standard, be sure to include them as well. 

 

I took the standard and turned it into an Excel form. In those days I had to hand type it all out but SQF is nice enough to provide you with a free downloadable version of the standard in Excel format. 

 

You can also make a copy to use to prepare for audits, especially if you're paperless in any way. To the right of each requirement, simply type in the documents that fulfill that requirement. And if you're paperless, you can make that into a link so you can link to the docs straight from your copy of the standard without having to open another window and click through layers of folders and docs.

 

Good luck!

 

~Emily~

[gagansaini1]

thanks a lot

[Mulan1010]

SQFi actually has a checklist available that we found to be a big help with this. (I included the link below) There are many ways to meet this requirement for SQF but I can say that once we adopted the checklist for our Internal Audit Questions we have not had any questions or problems with that part of the SQF Audit.

 

http://www.sqfi.com/...les-8-8-12.xlsx

 

As only a suggestion of one way to do this, you could list out each section from Module 2 and the Module that applies to your process and then divide them out over the twelve months. You may also consider adding an internal audit on GMP's monthly as well but divide out the types of GMP's so you are not overwhelmed. For example in January you could perform internal audits on SQF Code Sections 2.1.1, 2.4.3, 2.9 and 11.6.4 and GMP's for Personal Hygiene. 

 

Some companies choose to perform internal audits on certain sections more than once a year.  You just have to determine what works for your process and facility and if you had a lot of non-compliances during an audit you may want to perform a follow up in 6 months or less like SQF does.  

[Simon]

That's a great, practical way of doing it Lee Ann...how could anyone argue.  You are satisfying requirements for internal auditing and always preparing yourself for the third party SQF audit.  I agree also to do more GMP on top and maybe risk assess some of the SQF requirements and do them perhaps at different frequencies based upon risk assessment e.g. low=annual, or medium=quarterly, high=monthly. 

 

Regards,

Simon

[bmmowers]

Hey Lee Ann - I performed our company's internal audit last year and had some success.  My method was to go through each section and audit the organization section by section.  In the audit document you linked to provided by sqfi, I noticed that it only covers certain sections (not all).  For example, on Module 12, it starts off with 12.2 and also skips over 12.3 Personnel Hygiene.  If I use the document which you linked to (which is great, btw), it seems like I'll be "ignoring" certain sections of the code.  I'm guessing this implies that the auditor is still looking at those parts of the operation to confirm they have them in place, but is this what you guys use for your own internal audits?

 

Thanks!

 

 

SQFi actually has a checklist available that we found to be a big help with this. (I included the link below) There are many ways to meet this requirement for SQF but I can say that once we adopted the checklist for our Internal Audit Questions we have not had any questions or problems with that part of the SQF Audit.

 

http://www.sqfi.com/...les-8-8-12.xlsx

 

As only a suggestion of one way to do this, you could list out each section from Module 2 and the Module that applies to your process and then divide them out over the twelve months. You may also consider adding an internal audit on GMP's monthly as well but divide out the types of GMP's so you are not overwhelmed. For example in January you could perform internal audits on SQF Code Sections 2.1.1, 2.4.3, 2.9 and 11.6.4 and GMP's for Personal Hygiene. 

 

Some companies choose to perform internal audits on certain sections more than once a year.  You just have to determine what works for your process and facility and if you had a lot of non-compliances during an audit you may want to perform a follow up in 6 months or less like SQF does.  

[Mulan1010]

There are two parts to each module.  One is the desktop and the other is facility.  You have to go through all the tabs to the left to find the ones for the facility and it should start with 12.1.  Once I save a copy of the document to my computer I went ahead and deleted the modules that did not apply to our process to make it easier for me to navigate between the two. 

 

In answer to your question yes, the questions in the checklist are pretty much what we have for our internal audits.  With just a few added questions here and there specific to our company's requirements.  Also, we did add a question for us to verify that our related company program addressing each section of the code was up-to-date.