Food safety culture is what people do when nobody is checking: on the night shift, at the end of a long run, when a mistake has just happened. FSSC 22000 and BRCGS now audit it, and they expect a plan, measures and evidence that the plan works. ASC’s two online courses teach managers to build and measure the programme, and give food handlers the part they live every day.
- Five GFSI dimensions
- FSSC 22000 2.5.8
- BRCGS 1.1.2
- Culture surveys
- Near-miss reporting
One course to build the programme, one for the people who live it
Culture is set by leaders and lived on the floor, so ASC trains both. Managers build the programme on a case study site; food handlers learn what speaking up looks like in their own job.
Prices are in South African rand. The smaller figures under each price are indicative conversions at today’s exchange rate. You pay in rand and your bank sets the final rate.
Food Safety and Quality Culture for Management and Supervisors
For production and QA managers, shift supervisors, HR and training, engineering and the site leader.
- The five GFSI culture dimensions and maturity
- The business case, and why programmes fail
- Measuring culture with evidence
- Leading behaviour on the floor
- Building and running the programme
R1 195Online, self-paced · certificate on completion
View the course
Food Safety and Quality Culture for Food Handlers
For operators, packers, cleaners, storemen and drivers.
- Food safety, quality and the culture we work in
- Audits, customers and me
- My job every day, and speaking up
- Five animated videos and twelve timed games
- A supervisor observation form for your culture file
R560Online, self-paced · certificate on completion
View the courseFood safety culture bundle: both courses
R1 404 instead of R1 755 for the management and food handler courses together, a saving of R351.
Training a whole site? ASC runs group enrolments for food manufacturers, packhouses and retailers. Get a group quote, or see the food safety and quality culture training hub.
Five dimensions an auditor will look for
The Global Food Safety Initiative describes food safety culture as the shared values, beliefs and norms that affect mindset and behaviour toward food safety in, across and throughout an organisation. Its 2018 position paper sets out five dimensions, and most schemes build on them.
Where food safety culture sits in the standards
| Standard or guidance | What it expects |
|---|---|
| FSSC 22000 | Additional requirement 2.5.8, food safety and quality culture: a documented plan with objectives, measures and timelines, reviewed for effectiveness |
| BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9 | Clause 1.1.2: senior management define and maintain a plan to develop and continually improve the food safety and quality culture |
| SQF and IFS Food | Senior management commitment to food safety culture, with plans and evidence of how it is assessed |
| Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene | The 2020 revision names food safety culture as a management responsibility |
| GFSI | The 2018 position paper, and the benchmarking requirements that schemes are measured against |
In South Africa: Regulation R638 does not mention culture. It reaches South African sites through certification schemes and through retailer and export customers who expect them.
Six steps from a policy to a culture you can show
- Take a baselineSurvey, observe and look at your indicators before you write any objective.
- Set a few objectivesTie each one to a dimension and a measure, with an owner and a date.
- Write the planActions, owners, timelines and how each part of the plan will be measured.
- Put leaders on the floorRegular, visible floor walks, and how leaders respond in the first ten seconds of bad news.
- Make speaking up safeNear-miss reporting that gets an answer, and a just culture that separates error from recklessness.
- Review and repeatMeasure again, publish the results to staff, and adjust the plan each year.
Measuring culture with evidence, not opinion
A survey on its own is an opinion poll. Auditors want to see several kinds of evidence pointing the same way, and what you did about them.
| Leading indicators | Lagging indicators | |
|---|---|---|
| What they show | What people are doing now | What has already gone wrong |
| Examples | Near misses reported, floor walks done, coaching conversations held, survey participation | Complaints, audit non-conformances, recalls, repeat findings |
| Why they matter | They move first, so you can act early | They confirm, too late, whether the plan worked |
Six culture findings auditors write again and again
For getting staff to report, read near-miss reporting: getting staff to speak up.
Inside the management course
About 10 hours over five modules, with 36 lessons, knowledge checks and games after each module, a running case study site so every activity can be done without an employer, and a video proctored final assessment.
Foundations
What culture is, why it matters, the five GFSI dimensions, and how a site moves up the maturity ladder.
The business case
The vocabulary, what failure costs, the four organisational culture types, and why culture programmes fail.
Measurement
Four sources of evidence, surveys worth running, reading results, behavioural observation and the indicator dashboard.
Leading behaviour
The first ten seconds, just culture, the coaching conversation, production conflict, nudges, crisis and peak season.
Building the programme
What the schemes require, objectives, the plan, the auditor’s questions, the document set, and a three-part workshop that generates your plan and review workbook.
And for the floor
Food Safety and Quality Culture for Food Handlers runs about four hours on any phone: twenty short lessons, five animated videos and twelve timed games covering food safety and the culture we work in, audits and customers, and speaking up in your own job. It comes with a supervisor observation form so the training becomes evidence in your culture file. Read what culture training food handlers need.
Who takes these courses
- Site leaders, directors and general managers
- Plant, production and operations managers
- Shift supervisors and team leaders
- QA and compliance managers who own the culture plan
- HR, training and engineering managers
- Operators, packers, cleaners, storemen and drivers
- Consultants building culture programmes for clients
- Anyone preparing for an FSSC 22000, BRCGS, SQF or IFS audit
- Food businesses without a scheme that want fewer incidents
Frequently asked questions
What is food safety and quality culture?
The shared values, beliefs and norms that shape how people across a business think about and act on food safety and quality, especially when nobody is checking, time is short or a mistake has just been made.
Which standards require a food safety culture plan?
FSSC 22000 additional requirement 2.5.8 and BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9 clause 1.1.2 both require one, and SQF and IFS Food expect senior management commitment to food safety culture. The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene name it as a management responsibility.
Can food safety culture really be measured?
Yes, if you use more than one kind of evidence: anonymous surveys of workers and managers, behavioural observation on every shift, indicators tracked over time, and conversations on the floor. The management course teaches all four.
Which course should I take?
Managers, supervisors and whoever owns the culture plan take the management course. Operators, packers, cleaners, storemen and drivers take the food handler course. Most sites need both, which is why there is a bundle.
Do I need an employer or a site to do the management course?
No. The course uses a running case study site, so every activity and the final workshop can be completed without access to a workplace. The method then transfers to your own site.
How is the management course assessed?
Knowledge checks and games after each module, a submitted culture workbook from the workshop, and a video proctored final assessment of thirty questions drawn from a larger bank, with two attempts.
What does it cost?
The management course is R1 195 and the food handler course R560. Both together cost R1 404 as a bundle. The Culture Pack measurement tool is separate, at R750 per site per year. No VAT is added.
What is the Culture Pack?
A browser-based tool on ascfoodsafety.com for running the programme: anonymous QR-code questionnaires for workers and managers, a manager dashboard, and a one-click audit-ready report with an action plan.
How often should a culture plan be reviewed?
At least once a year, and after anything that could shift the culture: a serious incident, a change of leadership, a merger, rapid growth or a new shift pattern.
Can I take these courses outside South Africa?
Yes. They are online and in English, and the GFSI dimensions and scheme requirements are international. Prices are in rand, with indicative conversions shown on this page.
Read more on food safety culture
Train the leaders, then the team
Accredited training, online and self-paced, with a certificate for each course.
- Management courseR1 195, about 10 hours, builds the plan.
- Food handler courseR560, about 4 hours, on any phone.
- BundleBoth together for R1 404.
- Culture PackR750 per site per year, to measure it.
This page is educational and does not constitute legal advice. Verify specific certification scheme requirements with your certification body. For culture programme implementation support, visit ascfoodsafety.com. Browse all ASC courses.
