Jump to content

  • Quick Navigation
Photo

Did anyone pick COVID-19 as a scenario for a mock crisis in 2020?

Share this

  • You cannot start a new topic
  • Please log in to reply
20 replies to this topic

maylao123

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 76 posts
  • 3 thanks
1
Neutral

  • Canada
    Canada

Posted 07 May 2020 - 09:06 PM

I am curious about the Mock Crisis you guys conducted for this unusual year. Any of you pick positive COVID-19 as a scenario? Not sure if it's applicable to Food Safety.

 

Please share your opinion. Thanks.



kfromNE

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Fellow
  • 1,052 posts
  • 292 thanks
304
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Female
  • Interests:Bicycling, reading, nutrition, trivia

Posted 08 May 2020 - 12:13 PM

I am curious about the Mock Crisis you guys conducted for this unusual year. Any of you pick positive COVID-19 as a scenario? Not sure if it's applicable to Food Safety.

 

Please share your opinion. Thanks.

We did not pick COVID-19 nor will we. Like you mentioned - the food safety risk is minimal. The risk if any being food fraud due to shortages or some products.



Thanked by 1 Member:

AC2018

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 174 posts
  • 50 thanks
32
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Female

Posted 08 May 2020 - 12:27 PM



Thanked by 1 Member:

Spiceman

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 125 posts
  • 6 thanks
3
Neutral

  • United States
    United States

Posted 08 May 2020 - 02:53 PM

Yes we did use it for our Mock Crisis. We used the impact from sick/contagious employees, the unknown life of the virus on various items ( receiving boxes, steel tables,) & possible food fraud due to source countries being shut down.



Thanked by 1 Member:

resendiz_reyna

    Grade - Active

  • IFSQN Active
  • 10 posts
  • 1 thanks
0
Neutral

  • United States
    United States

Posted 08 May 2020 - 03:27 PM

I have never heard of a mock crisis; I've done a mock recall before. 



Setanta

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Fellow
  • 1,596 posts
  • 369 thanks
382
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Female
  • Interests:Reading: historical fiction, fantasy, Sci-Fi
    Movies
    Gardening
    Birding

Posted 08 May 2020 - 05:08 PM

I have never heard of a mock crisis; I've done a mock recall before. 

 

 

What GFSI standard do you use? SQF requires a test of your Business Continuity.


-Setanta         

 

 

 


Spiceman

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 125 posts
  • 6 thanks
3
Neutral

  • United States
    United States

Posted 08 May 2020 - 05:26 PM

SQF 8.1

 

2.1.5.3 The Crisis Management Plan shall be reviewed, tested & verified at least annually.



FurFarmandFork

    Food Safety Consultant, Production Supervisor

  • IFSQN Fellow
  • 1,264 posts
  • 590 thanks
206
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Oregon, USA

Posted 11 May 2020 - 05:21 PM

Not really a "mock" crisis if it's happening, is it?


Austin Bouck
Owner/Consultant at Fur, Farm, and Fork.
Consulting for companies needing effective, lean food safety systems and solutions.

Subscribe to the blog at furfarmandfork.com for food safety research, insights, and analysis.

jperri

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 86 posts
  • 25 thanks
11
Good

  • Canada
    Canada
  • Gender:Female

Posted 11 May 2020 - 05:27 PM

Not really a "mock" crisis if it's happening, is it?

Well if you do not have "coronavirus infected employees" currently at your facility then you can still do a mock crisis using the scenario of what if.



majoy

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 243 posts
  • 92 thanks
63
Excellent

  • Canada
    Canada
  • Gender:Female

Posted 11 May 2020 - 05:30 PM

Can still be "mock" crisis if you don't have a positive case yet.. :sleazy:


"Whatever you do, do it well..." - Walt Disney


Thanked by 1 Member:

wtheriot

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 58 posts
  • 25 thanks
34
Excellent

  • United States
    United States

Posted 11 May 2020 - 08:18 PM

It is an excellent example to test business continuity. We ran into several shortages of supplies for sanitation and had to find alternative suppliers. We had to examine the possibility of having a labor shortage. We also had to review our current emergency contact numbers to ensure even government/city officials were listed should we need any clarification of city "orders" that have been manadated.

 

Its a good chance to review your system and make sure you have all your bases covered in a crisis other than "fire" and "flood".

 

SQF 8.1

 

2.1.5.3 The Crisis Management Plan shall be reviewed, tested & verified at least annually.



Thanked by 2 Members:

YNA QA

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 97 posts
  • 17 thanks
26
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Kentucky
  • Interests:Crochet, Reading, Animals, Football

Posted 13 May 2020 - 06:08 PM

We plan to use this scenario as we are challenging ours at the end of the week.  We have yet to have an employee test positive but we are encountering many situations that could possibly affect the safety of our food and production that we had not thought of. It's also important to note that if an employee is out sick, and one who performs a critical function, that there are always properly trained back-ups.  This is a situation I think we will notice more than others when we perform the challenge here in a few days.  Also PPE is low, what are all the possible contingency plans.  

 

Some things to think about! Especially for smaller facilities who operate on 1 or 2 person QA/Food Safety teams, or sanitation crews.



Charles.C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Moderator
  • 20,542 posts
  • 5662 thanks
1,544
Excellent

  • Earth
    Earth
  • Gender:Male
  • Interests:SF
    TV
    Movies

Posted 13 May 2020 - 06:49 PM

We plan to use this scenario as we are challenging ours at the end of the week.  We have yet to have an employee test positive but we are encountering many situations that could possibly affect the safety of our food and production that we had not thought of. It's also important to note that if an employee is out sick, and one who performs a critical function, that there are always properly trained back-ups.  This is a situation I think we will notice more than others when we perform the challenge here in a few days.  Also PPE is low, what are all the possible contingency plans.  

 

Some things to think about! Especially for smaller facilities who operate on 1 or 2 person QA/Food Safety teams, or sanitation crews.

also see parallel thread -

https://www.ifsqn.co...id-19-pandemic/


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


Hoosiersmoker

    Grade - PIFSQN

  • IFSQN Principal
  • 683 posts
  • 228 thanks
122
Excellent

  • United States
    United States

Posted 26 May 2020 - 07:00 PM

I would think any global pandemic could be a potential crisis if it involved disruption of your processes, closing of your facility, substitution etc. We are not specifically citing COVID-19, just a global health crisis with potential effects on our suppliers / customers. Isn't it almost as big a crisis if your customer base dwindles?



Charles.C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Moderator
  • 20,542 posts
  • 5662 thanks
1,544
Excellent

  • Earth
    Earth
  • Gender:Male
  • Interests:SF
    TV
    Movies

Posted 27 May 2020 - 03:38 PM

I would think any global pandemic could be a potential crisis if it involved disruption of your processes, closing of your facility, substitution etc. We are not specifically citing COVID-19, just a global health crisis with potential effects on our suppliers / customers. Isn't it almost as big a crisis if your customer base dwindles?

The Scope from the SQF 8.1 Guidance is -

 

A crisis management plan prescribes actions that will be taken as a result of external, environmental, climatic, equipment failure or other potential business threats that will impact the ability of the supplier to provide their customers with safe products. These threats, depending upon the supplier’s product, location and other factors may include fire, flood, power failure, storm damage, acts of terrorism, etc

-----

-----

The supplier is required to identify a crisis management team including a senior decision maker and ensure the team is trained in crisis management procedures. The team shall identify known threats to the business which could disrupt or impact its ability to produce and provide safe food and prepare a plan describing the methods and controls the supplier will implement to address these threats if they were to occur and how to maintain continuity of product supply during the crisis.

Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


Plastic Ducky

    Director of Food Safety

  • IFSQN Member
  • 175 posts
  • 42 thanks
41
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Provo, Utah
  • Interests:FDA, USDA, SQF, BRC, FSMA, FSM (Flying Spaghetti Monsterism), Acidified Foods, LAFC, using a spotlight to hunt C.H.U.D.s at night, cooking, mycology, the middle path, epistemology, waffles, and being an all around student

Posted 27 May 2020 - 06:15 PM

We executed a Mock Crisis drill about COVID19 when it was on the news but still not a reality where we are located (Utah). The drill was a great way to bring the reality of the pending pandemic to the attention of upper management. The conversation was started around what we would do when an individual showed up positive. I corrected the conversation to be about what we would do when 10 people came up positive at one time, and then 2-3 a week positive after that. And wouldn't you know it. That is just about the reality we experienced three weeks later.

 

Plastic Ducky



Thanked by 1 Member:

Charles.C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Moderator
  • 20,542 posts
  • 5662 thanks
1,544
Excellent

  • Earth
    Earth
  • Gender:Male
  • Interests:SF
    TV
    Movies

Posted 28 May 2020 - 01:54 AM

We executed a Mock Crisis drill about COVID19 when it was on the news but still not a reality where we are located (Utah). The drill was a great way to bring the reality of the pending pandemic to the attention of upper management. The conversation was started around what we would do when an individual showed up positive. I corrected the conversation to be about what we would do when 10 people came up positive at one time, and then 2-3 a week positive after that. And wouldn't you know it. That is just about the reality we experienced three weeks later.

 

Plastic Ducky

Hi PD,

 

Why did you think the positive was related to COVID ?  Pure speculation ?

 

Or, for example, and perhaps more FS meaningful(?) -

 

Risk of inadequate monitoring of HACCP critical limits due excessive loss of experienced HACCP Team personnel ?

 

It is unclear to me whether SQF would accept a problem of "business continuity" per se, ie not validatably linked to FS except by gut feeling. :smile:


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


Thanked by 1 Member:

El Molino

    Grade - MIFSQN

  • IFSQN Member
  • 62 posts
  • 10 thanks
6
Neutral

  • Canada
    Canada

Posted 28 May 2020 - 08:16 PM

A health crisis may be more realistic if the employees came down with Norovirus or Hep A or B - which are viruses that CAN be transmitted thru food. For FSSC 22000 V5 we have only run a mock drill based on KNOWN situations - revising your plan for Covid 19 is premature as we still don''t know enough about it - currently no food transmission...all the other " worries" i.e. for emergency ingredient substitutions (under FSSC) were a requirement already. Training / cross training is still a normal requirement regardless of any crisis - comes under resource management. I think everyone is getting too specific for this pandemic - just sit back and review plans that relate to suppliers, personnel (people quit suddenly), and customers going out of business. 



Thanked by 1 Member:

Charles.C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Moderator
  • 20,542 posts
  • 5662 thanks
1,544
Excellent

  • Earth
    Earth
  • Gender:Male
  • Interests:SF
    TV
    Movies

Posted 28 May 2020 - 09:04 PM

A health crisis may be more realistic if the employees came down with Norovirus or Hep A or B - which are viruses that CAN be transmitted thru food. For FSSC 22000 V5 we have only run a mock drill based on KNOWN situations - revising your plan for Covid 19 is premature as we still don''t know enough about it - currently no food transmission...all the other " worries" i.e. for emergency ingredient substitutions (under FSSC) were a requirement already. Training / cross training is still a normal requirement regardless of any crisis - comes under resource management. I think everyone is getting too specific for this pandemic - just sit back and review plans that relate to suppliers, personnel (people quit suddenly), and customers going out of business. 

^^^^^ Yes, I agree, but SQF also "invites" speculation into  indirect connections. The Scope is temptingly flexible, eg Post 15.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


carine

    Grade - SIFSQN

  • IFSQN Senior
  • 361 posts
  • 22 thanks
5
Neutral

  • Earth
    Earth

Posted 29 May 2020 - 07:32 AM

hi, mind to share your mock crisis report.. i want learn this apply in my organisation if possible. 

Yes we did use it for our Mock Crisis. We used the impact from sick/contagious employees, the unknown life of the virus on various items ( receiving boxes, steel tables,) & possible food fraud due to source countries being shut down.



Charles.C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Moderator
  • 20,542 posts
  • 5662 thanks
1,544
Excellent

  • Earth
    Earth
  • Gender:Male
  • Interests:SF
    TV
    Movies

Posted 29 May 2020 - 01:27 PM

hi, mind to share your mock crisis report.. i want learn this apply in my organisation if possible. 

Hi Carine,

 

The potential threat responses in this remarkable Covid-19 document should easily occupy you for a few weeks. Recommended reading.

 

https://www.ifsqn.co...ne/#entry160694


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


Thanked by 1 Member:


Share this

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users