Allergen awareness training as per BRC 8
We are not having any allergen in our facility so it necessary to train the employees of production, maintenance, QC ,visitors , contractors on allergen awareness . do I need to have allergen policy or not? confused please guide me...
A policy declaration is enough and make sure that all parties are aware of this declaration.for employees train them ,for visitors put in the visistor log requirements
Hi Teja,
I would still have an allergen policy in place; even though allergens are not supposed to be in your facility there is always the risk of contamination i.e. staff bringing in a peanut cereal bar to the canteen to eat on their break. Some basic allergen awareness could be included in introductory training for new starters or perhaps a brief refresher session for all staff. The UK FSA offers free online allergen training if you want something a bit more comprehensive:
I agree with Zanorias - how do you know you don't have any allergens in your facility, if you haven't told your team about what allergens are and what they can / can't bring on to site?
I'd put a simple policy in place stating what allergens are covered and which areas they're banned from. You may decide that some/all allergens are permitted in e.g. the canteen, so you just need to make sure that people are aware of this.
You still need an allergen policy - it may come down to only indicating that you don't have any allergens in the facility as far as production is concerned.
All the companies that do not have allergens for their products that I have visited,have a allergen policy/program that speaks also to how they control potential allergens entering the facility from suppliers, employees, visitors, contractors, etc.
In addition many with vending machines that contain items that have allergens present have a written control program in place.
Our business is bottled water, very low risk and no allergens, however every BRC auditor I have encountered insisted up seeing an allergen policy as it is a "SHALL" clause. My policy acknowledged there were no allergens present in the production however break room is open because of snack machines and people bringing their food into the facility. As part of the training I demonstrated to brush your shirt/top off before returning to work station to remove any left overs. Also acknowledge that if allergens were introduced into the facility risk assessments and updated training will occur. Each auditor seems pleased with this policy for us.
We're not subject to BRC 8, however our auditing standard (Primus GFS) requires a policy and annual training even though we don't handle allergens. It's a good plan because we've had drivers bring in allergens. There are frequently allergens in the break room. Our training is one page with pictures, so it's easy to do.
We are not having any allergen in our facility so it necessary to train the employees of production, maintenance, QC ,visitors , contractors on allergen awareness . do I need to have allergen policy or not? confused please guide me...
Just to summarise, the answer Is Yes. You also need a Procedure to demonstrate implementation of the Policy.