Certification audit preparation checklist

The system

• The scope statement, product categories and site address on the certificate match what the site actually does today.
• A food safety and quality policy is signed by top management, displayed, and staff can say what it means for their job.
• Measurable objectives are set, tracked and reviewed, with evidence of action where a target was missed.
• The management review has been held in the last twelve months, covers every input the standard lists, and the minutes record decisions, resources and owners.
• The internal audit programme covers every clause and every area at a frequency based on risk, and the auditors are trained and independent of the area they audit.
• Non-conformances from the last internal and external audits are closed with root cause analysis and evidence, not just a signature.
• The document register is current: controlled copies on the floor match the master, and obsolete versions are removed.

Food safety controls

• The HACCP plan has been reviewed in the last twelve months and after every change (see the HACCP plan review checklist).
• Prerequisite programmes are verified on a schedule, and the verification records show results and actions (FSSC 22000 additional requirement 2.5.12).
• Allergen management is documented from supplier to label, with a cleaning validation on file for each changeover (see the allergen management checklist) (FSSC 2.5.6; BRCGS section 5.3).
• A risk-based environmental monitoring programme is running, with trends reviewed and actions on positives (see the cleaning validation and environmental monitoring checklist) (FSSC 2.5.7; BRCGS 4.11.8).
• Food fraud vulnerability assessment and mitigation plan, and food defence threat assessment and plan, are current and reviewed annually (see the food fraud and food defence checklist) (FSSC 2.5.4 and 2.5.3; BRCGS 5.4 and 4.2 respectively).
• A food safety and quality culture plan exists with objectives, activities, measures and a review date (FSSC 2.5.8; BRCGS 1.1.2).
• A traceability test from a finished product back to raw materials and from a raw material forward to customers has been completed, within four hours where BRCGS applies, and the mass balance reconciles.
• A mock recall has been run in the last twelve months, with the contact list tested and the lessons recorded (see the GMP and prerequisite programme checklist).

Records and the floor

• Every measuring instrument that affects food safety is on a calibration register, calibrated to a traceable standard, with the last certificate in date.
• CCP monitoring records for the audit period are complete, signed, and every deviation has a corrective action attached.
• Supplier approval records, specifications and certificates of analysis are on file for every raw material and packaging item in use.
• Customer complaints are logged, trended, investigated to root cause, and the trend has been reviewed by management.
• Training records show every person trained for their role, including temporary and agency staff, with competence assessed (see the staff training readiness checklist).
• A GMP walk this week found no open deviation, because the site is audit-ready every day and not only on the audit day (see the GMP and prerequisite programme checklist).
• A guide is appointed for the auditor and the records are in one place.
• The people the auditor will interview can explain their own procedures.