Application
This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to develop and manage a Hazard and Critical Control Point (HACCP)-based Quality Assurance (QA) program.
This unit is applicable to QA personnel and supervisors who are responsible for developing or implementing a HACCP-based QA system in a meat establishment.
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.
The 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 Involve management and staff in developing the quality system | 1.1 Involve relevant staff members and managers in clarifying purpose and scope of program 1.2 Clearly define enterprise needs and expectations 1.3 Incorporate other systems, including AUS-MEAT, workplace health and safety and meat inspection in accordance with workplace needs |
2. Establish the scope of the system | 2.1 Define the scope of the HACCP-based quality system to encompass food safety, quality, regulatory compliance, animal welfare and preventative maintenance 2.2 Set up the system to prevent and control food safety hazards and other hazards, including product quality and workplace health and safety hazards 2.3 Seek consensus from relevant workplace areas on coverage and scope of system |
3. Conduct hazard analysis and assessment | 3.1 Assess every step in the production process for potential food safety hazards 3.2 Establish Critical Control Points (CCPs) to identify methods for preventing and controlling significant hazards 3.3 Establish critical limits for each CCP 3.4 Assign measurable or recognisable standards for each CCP to define the critical limits 3.5 Technically and scientifically validate critical limits |
4. Ensure all documents, work procedures and processes required for the system are developed, available and in use | 4.1 Describe all products and processes covered by the HACCP-based quality system in a standardised format defining product characteristics relevant to food safety 4.2 Review work instructions and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for accuracy, relevancy and sufficiency to prevent potential hazards 4.3 Implement documented procedures for monitoring CCPs 4.4 Implement documented procedures designed to ensure any CCPs which are out of control are brought back under control, and any affected products are suitably handled 4.5 Implement documented procedures to ensure the whole HACCP system is regularly audited and verified as working effectively 4.6 Ensure availability, currency and current usage of all documents and records required for system |
5. Audit, verify and validate the system | 5.1 Routinely revise, verify and validate HACCP plan through reassessing hazards, CCPs, critical limits, testing methods, and all related HACCP system procedures, to ensure their ongoing relevancy to plant operations 5.2 Take corrective action and record follow up on audit findings 5.3 Review HACCP system to account for any process or product changes |
Evidence of Performance
The candidate must participate in the ongoing development and implementation of an HACCP and QA system. The candidate must demonstrate competency in the workplace while using an existing approved HACCP plan.
The candidate must:
conduct monitoring of a CCP
validate CCPs and critical limits
record and analyse monitoring and verification data
use relevant communication skills
use communications technology including computers, as relevant to the task
develop and implement changes in a HACCP-based QA system
identify and apply relevant workplace health and safety, regulatory and workplace requirements
Evidence of Knowledge
The candidate must demonstrate a broad factual, technical and theoretical knowledge of:
objectives of a HACCP-based QA system
the process for validating critical limits and CCPs
the role of pre-requisite programs and Good Manufacturing Processes (GMPs) in a HACCP-based program
the process of auditing and verifying a HACCP-based QA system
the steps involved in developing a HACCP-based QA system
the steps involved in systematically introducing a HACCP-based QA system
the documentation required to support a HACCP-based QA system
Assessment Conditions
Assessment must involve working with actual realistic data and in the context of a HACCP plan that meets regulatory requirements.
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.