Application
This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to manage a food safety plan.
Food safety is critical to public health and safety and the successful operation of meat industry businesses. This unit is applicable to managers in meat retail establishments, and supervisors and team leaders in smallgoods, meat processing and food services establishments, who maintain a food safety plan or system in a designated work area.
All work should be carried out to comply with workplace and regulatory requirements.
This unit applies to individuals who take responsibility for their own work and for the quality of others’ work within known parameters. They provide and communicate solutions to a range of predictable and sometimes unpredictable problems.
This unit must be delivered and assessed in the context of Australian meat processing standards and regulations.
No occupational licensing, legislative or certification requirements are known to apply to this unit at the time of publication.
Elements and Performance Criteria
Element | Performance criteria |
Elements describe the essential outcomes. | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. |
1. Manage the implementation of the food safety plan | 1.1 Explain food safety principles, procedures and requirements, including regulatory requirements, to the team 1.2 Develop team commitment to, and responsibility for, food safety 1.3 Develop and implement procedures to support the food safety plan 1.4 Provide training and mentoring to the team to assist implementation |
2. Monitor the food safety plan and take corrective action | 2.1 Monitor team implementation of the food safety plan 2.2 Complete records and reports accurately and on schedule 2.3 Take prompt action to correct non-conformance in accordance with enterprise and regulatory requirements 2.4 Identify and analyse causes of non-conformance 2.5 Implement control measures to prevent future non-conformance 2.6 Report non-conformance in accordance with enterprise requirements |
3. Maintain the food safety plan | 3.1 Seek feedback from all personnel to identify potential hazards, corrective actions and controls 3.2 Identify processes or conditions which could result in breaches of food safety procedures and take preventive or corrective action 3.3 Update corrective action and control procedures to improve food safety 3.4 Complete documentation in accordance with enterprise and regulatory requirements |
Evidence of Performance
The candidate must manage and maintain a food safety plan. Evidence must demonstrate the candidate’s consistency of performance over time.
The candidate must:
collect, monitor and interpret data to identify trends and non-conformance
communicate with a range of stakeholders, including customers, to convey information about food safety requirements and programs
determine and take corrective action
identify and apply relevant workplace health and safety, regulatory and workplace requirements
identify and review operations and practices for food safety improvement
lead personnel and team in investigation of food safety incidents
maintain currency of knowledge through independent research or professional development
monitor records and documentation for accuracy and conformance
respond to food safety incidents and implement food recall procedures as required
review communication systems to minimise potential of misreporting and misunderstanding of food safety requirements, procedures and plans
use a range of communication and team building strategies to gain team commitment to food safety
use detailed product knowledge, including product characteristics and the requirements for safe preparation, processing, storage, handling, display, to monitor food safety
use required problem-solving strategies when investigating non-conformance and reviewing the food safety system
Evidence of Knowledge
The candidate must demonstrate a broad factual, technical and theoretical knowledge of:
enterprise Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and their role in the food safety system
enterprise monitoring procedures (including sampling, testing and maintaining required records and documents) and their purposes
current technical and process knowledge for controlling hazards and improving the food safety system
enterprise recall and traceability procedures
food safety requirements and their importance to team members
food safety risk assessment procedures
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles and the process for developing a food safety plan
regulatory requirements that apply to the enterprise's food safety plan
Assessment Conditions
Competency must be demonstrated through sustained performance over time, at an appropriate level of responsibility and authority under typical operating and production conditions for the enterprise.
A minimum of three different forms of assessment must be used.
Assessors must satisfy current standards for RTOs
Foundation Skills
Foundation Skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit of competency.