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pHruit

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Posted 04 September 2020 - 05:28 PM

I start a new challenge on Monday - leaving the big corporate world for a startup with an entire staff smaller than my old department. First item on the agenda is SALSA certification - is it weird that I'm actually a bit nervous about it, despite a reasonable track record of multiple certification standards spanning a good few years?
Actually the first item is likely to be instilling some vague sense of GMP, if it's anything like a lot of small startup businesses :happydance:

Really looking forward to what I think is a positive change though - I'm approaching it on the basis that starting a proper technical department so early in the business's life is a strong sign of positive commitment to safety and quality. I have to hope so, given that it's quite a financial risk to me...

Anyone else done a runner from the comfort of a large corporate to go back to something a bit more hands-on? And if so, do you regret it, or was it the right call?



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Posted 04 September 2020 - 05:36 PM

Fantastic news pHruit, very exciting, I'm sure you'll be great. 

 

We may have to set up a SALSA forum for you.

 

Best wishes,

Simon


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pHruit

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Posted 05 September 2020 - 09:45 AM

Thanks, Simon.
I think a SALSA forum might be a bit lonely?
We don't seem to get many queries about it here. I've read the standard again last week, and I'm worried I'm going to overthink it after so many years of dealing with the arcane pedantry of BRC ;)
It does look like a good stepping stone from the basic SFBB level though.



Egas

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Posted 05 September 2020 - 09:25 PM

If you’re used to BRC you’ll be absolutely fine with Salsa. I’ve done Salsa for a few years and have implemented it from scratch in a high care production facility.

If you need any help let me know :-)


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zanorias

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Posted 07 September 2020 - 12:09 PM

Sounds like a great opportunity pHruit. Funnily enough I did a similar thing in March; I left a large manufacturer with BRC and retail customers to join a smaller, younger company with exciting plans. Whilst I joined as QA Manager, coincedentally, the Technical Manager left for a new job, and then Covid happened - leaving me to learn the Technical Manager role and companie's accreditations which included SALSA - new to me. Due to the pandemic, SALSA are now doing the audit in a 3 stage process: 1: self-assessment, 2: remote audit of documentation and systems, 3:site tour. I joined shorlty before the remote audit and - similar to your comment in your second post - did overthink it. There were certainly a lot of areas where I expected us to be hit with NCs, but I was actually surprised by the leniancy. Perhaps due to my expectation of everything needs to be bomb-proof, and perhaps also because the auditor knew we weren't in a great place in terms of staffing changes.

 

Having spent some time now with the standard, it does certainly seem less comprehensive than BRC and I'm sure you'll pick it up rapidly.

 

To answer your original question, I don't regret it. It's been very tough recently and a steep learning curve for myself personally without a Technical Manager to train me, and some loooong days :happydance: (hence not being so active here). But, it will be good to see the progress through and look back in 5 years time, when the company has grown, has BRC and larger customers and see how far the company and people have come. And, like you say, it's a good opportunity to get a department set up that grows on a commitment to food safety and quality.

 

Best of luck on Monday, let us know how you get on in the new place!

 

Simon, I second a SALSA forum :thumbup:



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Posted 07 September 2020 - 01:16 PM

Thanks, Simon.
I think a SALSA forum might be a bit lonely?
We don't seem to get many queries about it here. I've read the standard again last week, and I'm worried I'm going to overthink it after so many years of dealing with the arcane pedantry of BRC ;)
It does look like a good stepping stone from the basic SFBB level though.

 

Thanks, Simon.
I think a SALSA forum might be a bit lonely?
We don't seem to get many queries about it here. I've read the standard again last week, and I'm worried I'm going to overthink it after so many years of dealing with the arcane pedantry of BRC ;)
It does look like a good stepping stone from the basic SFBB level though.

 

Hi pHruit,

 

From memory, Salsa has some similarities to the earlier BRCs, ie before the latter's hierarchy decided it was too easily understandable. IIRC It is distinctly practical-oriented although can sometimes seem a little simplistic.

 

afaik it was launched in order to fill a (considerable?) need for Companies who found BRC several "bridges too far" and were not prepared to invest in interpreters.

 

However, I'm not sure whether its certification claims, like BRC, to provide a substantial  defence in the event of any occurrence  involving due diligence ?

 

Good Luck !


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


pHruit

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Posted 07 September 2020 - 05:26 PM

Thanks for the good wishes, everyone :thumbup:

I confess that today hammered home quite what it's like to start at the "beginning" - I'm not going to run out of work any time soon!
Great group of people though, with a positive hands-on attitude, eager to learn and improve, and it is not often that one finds oneself in a position where over 10% of company headcount is technical team...

 

 

From memory, Salsa has some similarities to the earlier BRCs, ie before the latter's hierarchy decided it was too easily understandable. IIRC It is distinctly practical-oriented although can sometimes seem a little simplistic.

 

afaik it was launched in order to fill a (considerable?) need for Companies who found BRC several "bridges too far" and were not prepared to invest in interpreters.

 

However, I'm not sure whether its certification claims, like BRC, to provide a substantial  defence in the event of any occurrence  involving due diligence ?

 

It is quite pragmatic compared to BRC's increasing complexity, the interpretation guide actually tells you what it is that the auditor really expects to see, and how one might do that. A negative take on it might be that it's almost a painting-by-numbers approach to food safety, and thus is limited by an absence of necessity for any significant understanding. A more positive view might be that it's reasonable to implement for a lot of small businesses perhaps with a bit of part-time help from a consultant, and thus potentially brings up the smaller side of the industry towards a higher level than they'd otherwise be at.

The SALSA site does talk about demonstrating that legal requirements are met, and that's perhaps reasonable and proportional in the context of the target group - it would likely be sufficient evidence of Due Diligence for a small business, but that's less likely to be the case if you're the size of Nestle...





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