12 replies to this topic

[Jill Clark]

Good afternoon everyone, 

 

I hope this doesn't seem like a silly question.   

 

I work for a relatively small company and oversee the food safety systems for the division I work for, as well as a sister company, and consult for other divisions.  I create the food safety training each month, as well as the quizzes and handle all new employee orientations.  My question:  do your training sessions include upper management?  By upper management, I am specifically referring to division managers who oversee the entire operation.  They are involved in every aspect of our processes and all training material is run by them before the employee training.  I can't seem to find any specific wording on documenting training requirements for managers, including myself, who creates the material. We  have successfully passed a cGMP audit and are working towards SQF certification due to customer's requests. I want to be prepared in the event this question were to be asked about upper management training records, as well as my own.

 

Thank you in advance for any input, 

 

Jill Clark

Quality Supervisor

[Hank Major]

Yeah, I have training for upper management. I started with a session on medical awareness and privacy, since there had been an incident with an employee with mental problems. That got the upper management to think nothing of my training them on food safety stuff later.

[Sweet'n'low]

Hi Jill,

 

When I conduct my SQF training, on a monthly basis, I expect upper management to take part with the employees. The way I see it, if upper management doesn't see training important to them, why should the employees see as important to them? If upper management is involved in daily practices, they should be leading by example. Otherwise why should the people below them care? 

 

Best Regards,

 

Kiri

[MsMars]

Part of Management Commitment is to have management involved in the whole process.  How will they know what is going on with your program if they haven't been trained on the basics? 

[SQFconsultant]

Upper Management and owners (if they are onsite) are included in trainings.

[Jill Clark]

Thank you all for the input.  The plant managers and production managers are involved, but its hard to coordinate schedules with the division and general managers.  Thank you again.  I appreciate the input.

[mgourley]

Anyone that enters the production or storage areas receives training.

 

Marshall

Edited by mgourley, 22 May 2019 - 09:11 PM.

[Mulan1010]

I agree with all the statements provided that Upper Management needs training as well.  

 

You also asked about training for yourself.   Assuming you will be the identified SQF Practitioner, you should have training from companies/institutions that are certified to do so. At the very least, you will need training on HACCP from a certified course and while it is not required, it helps to have the training on SQF.  It is also very helpful to have completed a training class on Internal Auditing as that will be a subject on how you are qualified to complete Internal Audits and how you are qualified to train the other Internal Auditors on your team. 

 

Please keep in mind that with the required unannounced audits that it is pro-active to have a back-up SQF Practitioner  identified to cover for you when you are on vacation or away for some reason.  It is best if that person has the same training as you have; at the very least HACCP Training. 

[majoy]

Owners and Sr. management needs training. You can specify on your training program that they are only required to take the most important training (general food safety awareness, h/s, gmp etc.) and not everything. You define this in your program and the auditor will not have any issues.

[Jill Clark]

Thank you to all for the great replies.  I have been certified in SQF Practitioner, Internal Audit and HACCP.  I will make sure our senior management is involved more and adjust our training policy accordingly. 

 

Thank you again.

[hacksalot]

Unfortunately, we currently have no upper management at the site as they've left the business and they're trying to backfill.  However, we got hammered in our last food safety audit for lack of management commitment to the program, no management food safety goals, poor Food Safety Statement, little review of the program, not attending opening and closing audit meetings, etc.  Not sure why the auditor didn't ding us points for all of this?  Hopefully, new managers will be more active in the program.  

[Hank Major]

Unfortunately, we currently have no upper management at the site as they've left the business and they're trying to backfill.  However, we got hammered in our last food safety audit for lack of management commitment to the program, no management food safety goals, poor Food Safety Statement, little review of the program, not attending opening and closing audit meetings, etc.  Not sure why the auditor didn't ding us points for all of this?  Hopefully, new managers will be more active in the program.  

 

Gawd.

[Jill Clark]

Unfortunately, we currently have no upper management at the site as they've left the business and they're trying to backfill.  However, we got hammered in our last food safety audit for lack of management commitment to the program, no management food safety goals, poor Food Safety Statement, little review of the program, not attending opening and closing audit meetings, etc.  Not sure why the auditor didn't ding us points for all of this?  Hopefully, new managers will be more active in the program.  

Good heavens!!