Everybody knows Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Anyone who works in the food industry knows this law applies. Strange and unexpected things can happen, so it is important for food manufacturers to learn from such mistakes or, better yet, work to keep them from happening in the first place. One way to keep Murphy from your door is through education. Make a commitment to allocate the resources and time to ensure staff members know not only how to their jobs but also how to do their jobs safely. Please note that the term education, and not training, is used. That’s because there is a difference. Training implies learning things by rote and not understanding why they have meaning. Staff needs to know how to do a task—and why it is important.
With a food safety management system or HACCP program, staff assigned to the task of monitoring critical control points should: