Effective food safety management system auditing

Dr. David Rosenblatt

Sher Consulting and Training

An audit is not an inspection

1. Passion

2. Professionalism

3. Attitude

5. Tactics

The principles of an effective food safety audit

If the auditor

doesn’t love what

he or she is doing,

then they

shouldn’t be doing

audits!

Auditing passion

Having a food safety

audit is like going to

the doctor for a

routine check-up.

It’s not supposed to

be fun.

Auditing passion

Audit professionalism – be prepared

Know the technology

Know the lingo

Know the criteria

Use generic HACCP plans

Use known food safety incidents

Auditor attitude

Auditee cooperation is crucial to

performing an effective food safety audit.

Auditor attitude

Even if auditees are candid in their

intention to fully cooperate, in the face of

an inquisitive auditor, normal people will

tend to build defenses and hide their

weaknesses.

Auditor attitude

Ensuring cooperation

is even more

challenging when

facing a reluctant

auditee.

Auditor attitude

Auditors can break down resistance and

obtain cooperation using attitude alone.

Auditor attitude

Body language

Tone of voice

Lilt

Demeanor

Try to act

curious without

being

inquisitive

Auditor tactics

Follow-up questions

Most observations of

non-conformity are

the manifestation of

an underlying cause

Auditor tactics

Without a follow-up question the reply to

most non-conformities will be:

• “The employees were re-trained”

• “The procedure was updated”

Auditor tactics

Neither of these will drive improvement…

Remember: any finding that indicates a

deviation from procedure is a symptom of

underlying “disease”….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnQZ2ZHmi60

Lack of Motivation

Lack of Awareness

Lack of Capability

Lack of Knowledge

Auditor tactics

Verification of verification

Routine verification

activities should be

sampled and audited:

Auditor tactics

Verification of verification

1. Show me how it’s done

2. Show me the records

3. Show me your reaction to

deviations

4. Show me the data analysis

Sheila Weatherill

“What was missing was the big picture - recognizing the repeated pattern of presence of Listeria on the same production lines several weeks after the problem was presumed to have been fixed. Although data were being collected to note such instances, they were not being analyzed by the plant or company headquarters to detect trends over time. Had such analyses been conducted, the re-emergence of Listeria on a regular basis would have become obvious much sooner.

Auditor tactics

One of the most effective ways to gather objective evidence for many audit aspects is to create an audit trail. This strategy demonstrates a high level of control of the audit process and shows how all parts of the FSMS are interconnected.

Audit trail

It is often beneficial to start the audit trail from the end of the process and proceed up the process flow.