Initial and Refresher Training for SQF
Hello, I am a QA Manager for a dietary supplement manufacturing company. We recently have decided to change our "annual refresher" training for all employees as it is extremely outdated and we are going to an online platform. Every year we would conduct refresher training on all safety and policies for the company. Because we are changing over, we have not completed any new hire or annual refresher training for any of our current staff. We do have an audit coming up next month and I am a little concerned as to what this will result in findings. I am wondering if it is mandatory that all new hires are trained immediately on specific modules. I am also wondering if we cannot complete all training by the audit date what is the minimum refresher training that we need to conduct? We may have been over killing the refresher training in the past so I am unsure how far down the rabbit hole I should go with this. We are changing our training systems and there is only so much I can complete before the audit. Any help is appreciated.
I'm not exactly sure what the most recent code has changed, if anything, but a training needs analysis was required with the previous version. From the 8.1 guidance:
2.9.2 Training Program (Mandatory)
What the SQF Code says-An employee training program shall be documented and implemented. It shall outline the necessary competencies for specific duties and the training methods to be applied for those staff carrying out tasks associated with:
i. Developing and applying Good Manufacturing Practices;
ii. Applying food regulatory requirements;
iii. Steps identified by the hazard analysis and/or other instructions as critical to effective implementation of the food safety plan and the maintenance of food safety; and
iv. Tasks identified as critical to meeting the effective implementation and maintenance of the SQF System.
I can't imagine much has changed with the newer version, in fact it's probably even stricter. This means if your training policy says employees are to be trained on new hire, you will get a NC if you don't have documented training for new hires. If your policy says employees are trained annually and the last time you've trained them was 2019, you will get an NC.
Have you pulled out the guidance document and read through the training requirements and what the auditor will be looking for in regards to training with 9.0?
Thank you. Well, the new plan that we are heading with would be online videos that would be completed throughout the year by employees. On initial hire we would train for GMP Policy, Food Safety, HACCP and Employee Orientation Video. The rest of the videos and training would be done throughout the year, for example, back safety may be due at the end of the next month by all employees and so forth. I was not sure if there was a time frame that ALL safety training had to be done by for example slips trips falls etc. We have found that by doing all of our training at once the first week for new hires is too much. The training is not effective and we are not getting much out of it by the overload of information upon new hire. It does not seem efficient before the employees even get the opportunity to get in the back and begin on the job training and work.
I attached a PowerPoint that I show new employees. I recorded voice over mine specific for our company. Hope this helps.
Attached Files
That is perfect! I like that idea and how you covered all of the main categories. Do you do any additional safety training? I may be overdoing some on safety I believe. Thank you so much.
We have on the job training and I have a mini trainings (bout 15-20min) monthly. Monthly trainings I train on corrective and Preventive actions and record keeping, metal detector and filter procedures, hold and release procedures, sanitation and chemical handling, and pest control. I add things they are missing like making sure locked doors stay locked...at each training as needed.
That is perfect! I like that idea and how you covered all of the main categories. Do you do any additional safety training? I may be overdoing some on safety I believe. Thank you so much.
Thanks, I do all safety training, OSHA training, Hazmat training. Just send me a message if you are ever looking for a training. We are SQF certified.