14 replies to this topic

[vkul84]

Hello! We recently had our unannouced audit and did well with only 3 minor finidings. Talking with the auditor, they were all pretty easy to resolve. 

 

One of the findings was the our crisis management team was not trained. When talking to the auditor, it was noted that our crisis management SOP outlined all the duties to be done by the team and he said just having a training record that this SOP had been reviewed was sufficient (we were missing this documentation). I also put in the corrective actions that the requirement to be trained on this proceudre has been added to the employee files for the team memebers.

 

I just checked and my corrective action was rejected with the comment "Further improvement required in the corrective actions."

 

I'm not sure where to go next with this. Do I need to do some sort of online training for the team? I'm not sure what else they want for this, or where I should go from here.....

[TimG]

Reach out to the person who rejected you and try to determine what further improvement they are looking for. Make sure they understand all that's involved in: ..the requirement to be trained on this proceudre has been added to the employee files for the team memebers.

 

They might want you to put this statement in the document or CM review SOP especially if just adding the requirement to the employee files isn't being reviewed/looked at annually. But that's just my conjecture at this point. Edit: My conjecture is because it kind of sounds like the CA is just a pencil whipping response and not so much a CA that sounds effective. They are really pushing back on those for the last few years.

Edited by TimG, 22 June 2026 - 01:54 PM.

[GMO]

I think training against the SOP combined with a crisis simulation (ideally run by someone external) is a good idea for training but agree with the previous answer that ask the person who rejected it why it was rejected so you don't end up missing the mark on your reply.

[Scampi]

Did you update your policy/procedure to include annual training?  That's probably what is missing

[Lynx42]

We just got hit with this same finding.  We have off-site upper management with specific crisis management training, but no one on-site with a certificate or training records.  I was going to ask one of our upper managers to come up with some training slides and a short test and cross my fingers it is acceptable.  

Per what our auditor said we have to make sure there is something about the food safety during a crisis in there.  We have it in our plan, but no training records other than they helped me write the thing.  

[MDaleDDF]

We just got hit with this same finding.  We have off-site upper management with specific crisis management training, but no one on-site with a certificate or training records.  I was going to ask one of our upper managers to come up with some training slides and a short test and cross my fingers it is acceptable.  

Per what our auditor said we have to make sure there is something about the food safety during a crisis in there.  We have it in our plan, but no training records other than they helped me write the thing.  

Are you guys SQF or what?

[TimG]

We just got hit with this same finding.  We have off-site upper management with specific crisis management training, but no one on-site with a certificate or training records.  I was going to ask one of our upper managers to come up with some training slides and a short test and cross my fingers it is acceptable.  

Per what our auditor said we have to make sure there is something about the food safety during a crisis in there.  We have it in our plan, but no training records other than they helped me write the thing.  

 

I consider our annual crisis review the training. We go over responsibilities listed on the PnP and discuss the crisis scenario as well as the annual mock recall scenario. I can't see how an auditor would say this isn't training; it's actual mock scenarios. We have sign off's and I keep the meeting minutes as part of the training/scenario review.

[vkul84]

I reached out the the technical reviewer to ask why it was rejected and to see if they could give any insight as to what they are looking for. Currently waiting for a reply. 

 

In response to Scampi - I don't have the annual requirement written in the procedure (Maybe I should add it) but I have an annual training requirement added for the applicable members in our training program software, but I don't think I made that clear, so I think you might have a point here.

 

Also to TimG - I like this idea as well, and I think I might incorporate this in the future. 

Edited by vkul84, 22 June 2026 - 05:36 PM.

[Jimimacintire]

Getting good feedback from the reviewer of our recent corrective actions was like pulling teeth. Several back and forth messages because he couldn't/wouldn't explain what is missing from a couple of different items. 

[vkul84]

Getting good feedback from the reviewer of our recent corrective actions was like pulling teeth. Several back and forth messages because he couldn't/wouldn't explain what is missing from a couple of different items. 

 

looks like this is the case, no response from the reviewer.

 

I resubmitted with additional evidence about annual training, and how training is assessed by observation during crisis management tests (also supplying evidence that this was done in our last test). It's still in review now, so crossing my fingers this is what they were looking for. 

[vkul84]

success! My changes were accepted and the corrective action has been closed.

 

Thank you for all  your help!

[TimG]

success! My changes were accepted and the corrective action has been closed.

 

Thank you for all  your help!

 

What did you change that tipped it over to accepted? Of course, you don't have to share, but it helps when others search for similar and can get an idea on their options.

[vkul84]

What did you change that tipped it over to accepted? Of course, you don't have to share, but it helps when others search for similar and can get an idea on their options.

 

I had my initial corrective actions that I had trained all members of the crisis management team on the SOP. I then added details that the requirement for training of the crisis management team had been added to our training program, and I shared a screenshot of the training program we use, showing that the training is in there and set up to recur annually. I mentioned that a training gap report is run during the internal audit and in management review meetings so if it was missing it would be caught to prevent recurrence of this issue. I also mentioned that training is assessed by observation during crisis management tests (also supplying evidence that this was done in our last test). 

 

Happy to have this closed out!

[jfrey123]

I'm glad to see you got this closed out too!  Coming late to the discussion, I would've agreed that the separate documentation showing each participant has reviewed their responsibilities in the crisis management protocol was the missing bit along with the annual capture written into the SOP.  It's one thing to say, "The person needing training on this procedure wrote the thing!" so you might as well take credit that their review of it counts as a refresher of their responsibilities.

 

I would add in speculation that they wanted the further evidence to help show future trainings will be held and monitored for.  Scenario that comes to mind is you may likely have new personnel take over existing roles in crisis management or add new roles to the company who may have a hand in a crisis as well, to which the training of these personnel needs to be described somewhere.  The SOP stating it'll be reviewed during the mock crisis scenario is fine and dandy, but laying out how the SOP is used for training of existing and new personnel prior to being used in the mock crisis scenario is significant.

[Alex Uspenskyi]

Interesting.

 

Assuming this is SQF, I wouldn’t immediately go out and buy an online training course. It sounds more like the auditor wants to see that the corrective action goes beyond --we added it to the employee files--

 

The concern is probably that the team was named in the SOP, but there wasn’t clear evidence that they had actually been trained, understood their roles, and that the gap was fixed so it doesn’t happen again. For SQF, the crisis management team needs to be identified and trained, and the crisis plan should be reviewed, tested, and verified at least annually, with any gaps and corrective actions documented.