Employee Training: Essential Tool for HACCP and GMP Compliance

Employee training plays a critical role in facility Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Good Manufacturing Practices and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedure (SSOP) programs.

In a recent National Institute of Food and Agriculture survey, 65% of the establishments surveyed characterized training as very important, with highest interest in the areas of HACCP regulatory updates, cleaning and sanitation, detection and control of pathogens and Escherichia coli regulations. Reasons given for not having a training program included lack of time, lack of funds and lack of access to appropriate training resources. Higher overall knowledge scores were achieved by participants who recognized the importance of training, had computer access and participated in an ongoing training program at their plant.

According to the study perhaps the biggest challenge in SSOP compliance is managing employees, specifically communication and retention of required training materials. Finding the time and resources to provide successful and relevant employee training is challenging and time consuming. Also the importance of training for new employees is widely accepted and understood, but ongoing training for existing employees is a crucial task that is frequently overlooked

Changes in cleaning staff, raw materials, chemicals, seasons and many more variables impose challenges on any sanitation program and timely, reliable feedback on its effectiveness is vital. In order to obtain this feedback, enterprises should use different evaluation systems that go from simple writing test, to monitoring softwares that can measure if there`s any organic material on a surface which would indicate problems in the cleaning process.

Aporte: Alejandra Avendaño

Fuente: http://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/article.asp?id=3947&sub=sub1