Invest in your Food Safety Team – It’s the Right thing to do
Hello there!
With the year in full swing, we thought it would be nothing less than right to place the spotlight on food safety teams. In this month’s Blog we will be looking at the importance of a fully trained food safety team and how the morale within the team can cultivate a positive food safety culture.
It’s no fable that many food safety team members have not volunteered their services, but often, they are merely informed that they are a member of the team and then blindly requested to sign an official appointment letter. They understand that they need to participate in regular food safety team or HACCP meetings, and they duly attend, but do they really understand the importance of their role, and have they been equipped with the skills they need to make a meaningful contribution? [Apologies for the extreme generalisation but years of auditing experience has shown us that food safety team members are grossly under-appreciated and their experience grossly under-utilised.]
So, how do you build a food safety team that understands and willingly fulfils its responsibilities? You invest in them! The next obvious question is “how do you invest in your team”?
- Start by providing them with the training they need so that they can understand how to make a meaningful contribution. Fortunately, we’ve got this sorted for you… We offer a 2-day Food Safety Team Workshop based on FSSC 22000 Version 6 requirements. Our 2-day HACCP Workshop is the ideal starting point to train up your HACCP team members and is perfect for BRCGS Food and HACCP (SANS 10330) certified sites. Not only is this the perfect opportunity to train your team but getting them together in the same room is the perfect team building exercise. Now you have a competent and motivated team ready to work together!
- Next is creating a platform where they can contribute and interact with the rest of the team on a regular basis – we believe the technical term is “HACCP or Food Safety Team Meetings”. Setting up a schedule with a fixed agenda where each team member can contribute and present aspects that relate to their area of expertise and responsibility.
- Very often we see sites displaying their health and safety representatives on notice boards, but the food safety team appears to be a secret under-cover operation. Show them off a little!
With a motivated food safety team on-board, you now have walking-talking-living ambassadors spreading their knowledge, expertise and positive attitude wherever they go. It’s contagious! As the various team members interact with their respective colleagues and subordinates on a daily basis, they start to bring a deeper understanding on the importance of food safety. This culture of responsibility and accountability becomes evident throughout the organisation and that is how food safety culture excellence is born!
For those of you who missed our first Blog this year, 2022 has aptly been named “The Year of Wow!”. [Click here to read our first Blog and learn more about Wow! and how we have made it part of our vision and values.]
Are you ready to experience Wow!? Simply visit our website where you can access our extensive training programme for 2022 as well as our online training offerings. Have any questions or specific training needs? Send an e-mail with your enquiry to info@progress-excellence.co.za or use the Webchat function on our website – we simply cannot wait to Wow! you!
Until next time…
From all of us!