IMPFS129 – Produce action plans to control food safety hazards and risks in food and drink operations

Overview

This standard is about identifying and analysing hazards and risks to food safety. It involves producing an action plan to control those hazards and risks including assigning roles and responsibilities, identifying monitoring and audit procedures, and providing relevant records and documentation to meet legislative requirements.

You will need to be able to analyse the nature of food hazards and implement a structured plan for reducing the risk.

This standard is for you if you work in food and drink operations or animal feed operations and your job requires you to have responsibilities for food safety and/or health and safety. You may have responsibilities for managing an operational team.

Performance criteria

You must be able to:

1. select the monitoring procedures which provide data at a level of detail and degree of urgency to avoid breaking the critical limits

2. select records and documentation which meet relevant information and audit trail requirements

3. allocate roles and responsibilities and specify the level of authority for improvement and management of operations and environmental control of the food safety management procedures

4. develop procedures for identifying any deviation and disposition of affected product

5. identify verification and audit procedures at a frequency to demonstrate control is maintained

6. select the types, methods and measurements of control to eliminate or minimise each hazard in accordance with organisational requirements

7. select suitable monitoring frequency to control hazards and risks in accordance with organisational requirements

8. specify critical limits and tolerances for each critical control point in accordance with organisational requirements

9. specify suitable actions for deviations at each critical control point in accordance with organisational requirements

10. specify timeframes during which corrective actions should take place

Knowledge and understanding

You need to know and understand

1. the importance of food safety management and the implications of non-compliance

2. the differences between 'HACCP', 'TACCP' and ‘VACCP’ and how they apply to the organisation

3. relevant and current food safety legislation in respect of both product type and working environment

4. the principles of the implementation of food safety management systems and their application

5. the nature and type of hazards which may occur in the food chain for each specific product or type of product

6. the nature, type, severity and implications of food safety hazards arising from each production stage

7. risk and threat assessment and management techniques relevant to the workplace

8. methods and types of hazard control

9. how to identify critical control points and determine critical limits

10. where and how to access advice and support for hazard analysis

11. where the relevant safety information relating to products including composition, physical or chemical structure, microcidal or static treatments, packaging durability, storage conditions, method of distribution and intended use by consumer can be found

12. conditions which influence the presence, severity, extent, frequency or introduction of hazards to food safety

13. control measures in respect to each hazard and how to specify these

14. acceptable tolerances for the definition of measurable critical limits such as temperature, time, moisture level, pH

15. monitoring methods and procedures to guarantee control

16. types of actions and how to specify these for each control point including the disposition of affected products

17. relevant methods of verification and audit of food safety

18. the range and type of records required to complete and auditable documentation of food safety management procedures

19. who within the organisation is responsible for reporting on levels of compliance

20. the relevant procedures related to planning and scheduling action

21. the role of action planning in resolving non-compliance issues

22. who is responsible for implementing action

23. how planned action should be recorded

24. who action needs to reported to

25. the type of information that needs to be reported to both internal departments and, other organisations

Keywords: Food, manufacture, hygiene, safety, animal, feed, hazards, risks