Training is Our Passion – Helpful Tips

Training is Our Passion – Helpful Tips

Hello!

We have been doing a bit of “Spring cleaning” and stumbled across a previous blog which just seemed too good to keep buried in the “Cloud”.  It’s just amazing how the circle of life brings us back to the same point, at the same time every year…

As the year shuttles to an end, we thought it would be a good time to share our insights on the different training requirements in the various food safety standards.  This is just the perfect time of the year to schedule some last-minute training or, even better, set up a training plan for 2022.

So, where do you start? Who do you train? How often do you train?

Our model provides a generic overview of food safety training requirements at different organisational levels which we hope will help you create and execute a plan that adds value.

LEVEL TYPE OF TRAINING FREQUENCY
Senior Management ·         Food Safety Culture

·         Awareness: Basic understanding of the standard and how leadership is demonstrated

 Once off
Middle Management ·         In-depth training on the requirements of the standard

·         Internal auditor training

·         Food Safety Culture Training

·         Food Defense (VACCP and TACCP)

 Once off and then again when the standards are updated
Supervisors/Team Leaders ·         Food Safety Team Training

·         GMP Training

·         Internal Auditor Training

·         Food Defense (VACCP & TACCP)

 Once off and then again when the standards are updated.

GMP training could be offered as a refresher programme.
All staff ·         Induction training

·         Basic Food Hygiene

·         Cleaning (use of chemicals and their dilution)

·         Allergen Management and Awareness

·         Task specific training such as OPRP and CCP monitoring

 Refresher programme

 

Knowing and understanding the requirements of the standards regarding training and awareness is just a small step in putting a food safety training plan together.  There are so many other factors that influence and impact the learning process.

  • The learning environment should be conducive to learning. In plain English, this means that the venue or room that is used, should allow for sufficient light, temperature, and seating arrangements in such a way that learning can be optimised.  Sadly, when we offer our on-site training programmes, we often find groups of people crammed into dingy rooms with insufficient seating arrangements.  In fact, in recent years we’ve become pretty uptight about the minimum infrastructure requirements that need to be in place in order for us to offer on-site training.

 

  • Prevent distractions. During breaks, such as lunch and tea breaks, delegates are often “hi-jacked” by co-workers or managers to “help out with something quickly”. Now, we do understand that the production environment is dynamic and sometimes things go wrong, but very often these delegates return to the training room after being called away for more than an hour and more often than not, they never find their way back to the training room at all!

 

  • Plan training ahead and inform delegates. When delegates are not informed of the training well in advance, they do not have time to make the necessary arrangements that will allow them to attend the course in full.  In some instances, delegates are only informed of the training on the day of the training and sitting in a training room stressing about your work that’s piling up means that you are not actively engaged and therefore not experiencing the full learning benefit.

Training is an investment in time and money, and these distractions prevent delegates from focussing on the topics at hand and they miss out on important discussions during training.

We’ve been pretty pro-active ourselves and our 2022 training programme is ready and waiting for you to explore.  Remember, everything you see on our website can be offered as on-site training on a date that suits YOU! Our programmes are also delivered by facilitators who can inspire delegates to change their views and behaviours and provide the peace of mind that the food we manufacture is safe to eat.

If you desperately need training before the end of the year, we’ve got you covered with the following public workshops still lined up for 2021:

 

Still coming up in 2021:

Be AWESOME!

Food Bites Team.