5 replies to this topic

[dmerritt]

Does anyone have a sample Site Assessment Form they can share as an auditor is looking for an assessment for the site and we have never been asked this before after 10 years.

[TimG]

Looking at the code, it looks similar to what we have to do in manufacturing under 'Site location and premises'. We list an aerial view of the facility and surrounding area, as well as a detailed description of the premises, adjacent land (or buildings if there were any), and their impact on food safety if any. From the SQF guidance docs for 13.1.1 (bold mine because it directly relates to 13.1.1.1):

• Locality map showing the site in relation to the area; • Site plan showing all salient features of the site and a description of adjoining sites including the location of the premises north compass points, roads, storm water, waste water; • Floor plans showing the layout of the premises, processing areas, permanent fixtures, and layout of equipment; • Details of major items of equipment used in the manufacturing area; • A diagram of product/process flow; • Specifications generally include details of construction materials, surface finishes (walls, floors, ceilings, etc.), product contact surfaces, essential services and the number of personnel; • All applicable certificates or inspection documents from local, state, federal or international governing agency shall be current and kept on file.

 

 

Edit to say I didn't use a form for mine; it's more of a write up ticking off the points.

Edited by TimG, 15 April 2026 - 12:53 PM.

[Scampi]

and this my friends is why the internal audit should follow the code to the letter

 

so your auditor is looking for all of those things.........a map as well as any risk assessments you may need to support your physical location

[Lynx42]

I have only had one (of 5) auditors ask for this.  I wrote something up with an aerial view from Google to include local major roads and a note about the companies around us and any risk they may pose to our facility. I included a quick note about a nearby river, flood risk, and how close we are to a couple volcanoes.  

I found something about a major groundwater contamination event a mile north of one of our facilities in the 70's or 80's that has been officially clean since the early 2000's but is still being monitored, so I included that as well.

 

I was told by the auditor who asked for it that they are just looking to make sure we are aware of what is around us.  I was able to verbally tell him, but he said it would look better written down.  It was not a finding at the time, but I made sure it was ready for the next audit.

[jfrey123]

I have only had one (of 5) auditors ask for this.  I wrote something up with an aerial view from Google to include local major roads and a note about the companies around us and any risk they may pose to our facility. I included a quick note about a nearby river, flood risk, and how close we are to a couple volcanoes.  

I found something about a major groundwater contamination event a mile north of one of our facilities in the 70's or 80's that has been officially clean since the early 2000's but is still being monitored, so I included that as well.

 

I was told by the auditor who asked for it that they are just looking to make sure we are aware of what is around us.  I was able to verbally tell him, but he said it would look better written down.  It was not a finding at the time, but I made sure it was ready for the next audit.

 

This is as close to an answer as I could've given also.  Each time I print an arial map in color, describe my building and its surroundings.  I describe the neighbors and whether there's a potential risk we should consider from them.  "To the north is a large open field owned by a private company, no animal farming or other agricultural practices occur."  "Building is in an industrial park surrounded by other warehouse buildings."

 

I describe the local geography, even to state there are or are not large or flowing bodies of water in our proximity.  "There is river approximately 1,000 yards from the building to the South.  Available county data shows it is unlikely to overflow its shores, and if flooding did occur there is a 75' elevation increase from the river to our facility, making any flooding unlikely to affect our operations."

 

There's not a good "form" for how to write one of these, it's more of a report format from what I've always seen.  Write it up to the best of your ability with as much data as you think could possibly be relevant, throw your headers and document control numbers on it, and toss it in with your SOP's.  Auditors usually just glance at it, judge whether you put an ounce of effort into it, then move on.

 

And when I say "an ounce of effort," I mean do try and think of what the auditor will see driving to and walking around your building.  If auditor steps out from your loading docks and sees you're next to a smelly cow pasture and the bovines are by the fence 100 feet from your backdoor, they'll want to know whether you've documented thinking about how the increased fly activity might affect the doors you permit to be open near the back.  A simple description like, "A cattle farm is located near our building.  Extra ILTs and pheromone traps were installed near the truck driver's entrance in the storage area to mitigate potential for increased insect activity for that area of the building."

[GMO]

Not sure where you're based OP but in the UK the government website also has flood maps which are useful for considering risk to site from incidents.

 

I don't work to SQF but have done something similar on various standards. Had an assessment of overall site risk from surroundings and included in this:

• Food defence risk (sometimes I've included that in the separate assessment) e.g. a recent site I went to had an access path down one side of the building and defensive planting was poor as you could see from the google maps image.
• Flooding risk
• Risk from neighbouring businesses, e.g. seasonal uplift in transport, smell (taint), waste, pests.
• Other risks, e.g. rivers and train lines tend to be riskier areas for pests.
• And anything else of interest or importance.

As others have said, google maps is a brilliant resource for this.

 

Here's the flood risk mapping tool:

 

Check the long term flood risk for an area in England - GOV.UK

Edited by GMO, 16 April 2026 - 07:01 AM.