Is certification adding value to your organisation

Hello one and all!  We’re back with a blast this week fellow Food Biters…

So, you have a certified food safety management system – but is it adding value?  Before we continue, it may be worth our while to define the meaning of “value” in this context.  According to the Merrium-Webster dictionary “value” is defined as:

Firstly, monetary worth implies that you will pay for an external certification audit and this should be market related.  More importantly though, is what you are getting in return and if the certification process is important to you, what is it really worth?

For any organisation to experience the true value of certification, they must understand the value of implementing a system which can reach its full potential as opposed to a system that hinges on window-dressing and ticking the boxes.  If internal audit system, monitoring of CCPs, corrective actions, verification systems and non-conformance systems are “kick-started” before the audit and not implemented to add value to the organisation, then you do not have the true value of certification.

If a food safety management system is implemented with the aim of improving the business, rather than to satisfy an auditor, true value is experienced in the form of “peace of mind”.   Value is not creating extra work for staff, but rather integrating systems and standards into daily activities.

When food safety is part of the strategic vision of an organisation, a certification audit is seen as an opportunity to highlight risks in the business and to ensure improvement of both the system and the organisation.  In fact, audits are a welcome tool to manage risk and drive improvement.

If you see value as having zero non-conformances during the certification audits, then you are literally paying for nothing.  We have yet to meet an organisation who prides themselves on paying good money for no return goods or services.  A certification audit is a service aimed at determining the level of conformance to a specified standard.  The level of conformance is usually demonstrated in the form of non-conformances which are identified, thus allowing the audited organisation to improve.  Zero recalls are still a better outcome than zero non-conformances and a value-adding certification audit can help to identify risks that, if not adequately managed, could trigger a recall.

Let’s get this straight, certification MUST add value.

On that serious note, it’s goodbye until next week!

Seriously, food should never bite!