HACCP Training: What You Need to Learn

HACCP is a people-system; therefore, training is essential. If your employees don’t know what to do, you’re in trouble. Training must start with management and should trickling down to other employees including the HACCP team, CCP monitors, internal food safety auditors, and line operators. HACCP training is not limited to the classroom. It must be ongoing and should take on many faces including demonstration and observation on the job, personal coaching, job shadowing, stand up meetings before work, videos and webinars, onsite classroom discussions, and off-site workshops.

The person doing the training may be internal or external to the organization such as extension agents, consultants, and other expert HACCP trainers. Having a trainer onsite is ideal since he or she will have a better understanding of the organization’s needs. It will also help to keep training costs down. However, in most cases an onsite trainer will not be able to provide HACCP certification.

So, what should HACCP training entail? Well it depends on who is being trained. Below, I outline the categories of individuals that need to be trained and what they should know.

Management

1. Why HACCP is important and critical to the business
2. The general principles of HACCP and how they relate to the food business including quality, food safety, regulatory compliance, and cost/benefits
3. Overview of activities and commitments that will be required to establish a HACCP program
4. How to develop a practical timetable for design and implementation of HACCP
5. How to promote a HACCP culture

HACCP Team

1. Why HACCP is important
2. The nature of hazards
3. How to conduct a hazard analysis
4. The seven principles of HACCP and their implementation
5. Relationship between HACCP and regulatory requirements
6. How to develop and maintenance prerequisite programs
7. How to lead a HACCP team
8. How to promote a HACCP culture

CCP Monitors

1. Type of hazards
2. What are critical control points (CCPs)?
3. What are control limits?
4. How to monitor hazards
5. How to perform corrective actions
6. How to complete appropriate documentation

Internal Auditors

1. The principles of HACCP
2. The relationship between HACCP and regulatory requirements
3. Type of food safety records required and their interpretation
4. Checklists used in HACCP review
5. How to conduct effective sampling, questioning and observation techniques
6. Proper preparation of audit reports
7. How to interact with regulatory agents

Line Operators

1. Personal hygiene
2. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) relating to specific tasks
3. Good manufacturing practices (GMPs) that are relevant to their specific responsibilities