Develop policy and guidelines to manage food safety in food and drink operations
Overview
This standard is about the skills and knowledge required to develop policy and guidelines to implement proactive food safety management procedures.
You will need to be able to review current working practices and assess their strengths and weaknesses in their ability to support the food safety management system.
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 managing food safety. You may have management responsibilities for an operational team.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
Develop food safety policy and guidelines
review existing policies and guidelines to identify suitability against statutory requirements and industry best practice
align organisational policy and guidelines to relevant statutory requirements and legislation
provide alignment between hazard analysis, operational practice, supplier assurance and sector best practice
include specific terms of reference, definitions and objectives in respect of food safety management in policy and guidelines
Communicate across teams
identify suitable methods and opportunities for briefing senior management and technical personnel
present revised policies and procedures to senior management and technical personnel
define and inform others of the senior management commitment to, and importance of, food safety management in the organisation
respond to questions and comments related to challenges that may ariseĀ through the implementation of new policies and procedures
provide ongoing guidance for the formation of food safety management teams including roles, responsibilities, skills and levels of authority
Evaluate the introduction of new food safety policies and procedures
implement regular review processes for continuous improvement of policies and procedures
incorporate processes to gather feedback of existing and new food safety management procedures
report on suitability of current procedures to senior management and relevant personnel
make recommendations for changes that need to be made
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- relevant current legislation and statutory requirements for organisation's sector and product type
- how and where to access supporting information and expert advice
- the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to preparation of guidelines and systems
- the importance of a systematic approach to food safety management for the organisation
- factors which impact on the safety of products from supply of raw materials to end consumer
- the role of hygiene procedures within food safety management and associated directives
- best practice within the relevant industry/sector and its application in context
- key principles and components of hazard analysis systems including critical control points and critical limits
- how to conduct hazard analysis and risk assessment
- the roles and responsibilities of individuals in food safety management teams
- the minimum training provision requirements for staff relating to food safety
- relevant evaluation procedures and best practice for verification and compliance of food safety procedures
- risks to public health, their nature and severity
- the importance of processes for continuous improvement
- how proposals for continuous improvement can be incorporated into revised policies and practice