Risk Management
The current Swine Flu scare has highlighted the need for all of us to have a plan for managing a crisis when it occurs. This includes food businesses and means that each must have documented procedures for handling events such as;
- Recalls
- Tampering
- Returns
- Fire
- Evacuation
- Hold ups
- Bomb threats
- Loss of key staff
- Computer system failure
All manufacturers, wholesalers, importers and distributors must have a Recall Program that meets the requirements of the Food Standards Code. There is a new edition of the Protocol for Food Product Recalls available on www.foodstandards.gov.au
All food businesses should have a Return Procedure or similar, which details how materials are to be isolated / quarantined, returned / replaced / refunded and what is to be done if a Tampering is suspected.
Therefore, if the Food Safety Supervisor is not on site, staff will still know what to do and all actions will be consistent and recorded as needed.
Fire training of all staff, including the use of extinguishers, is a mandatory workplace health and safety requirement and records of this training must be kept. This training should be shown on some sort of Annual Calendar / Diary to ensure it is not missed. At least one practice evacuation should be done every year as well, with a record kept to show it occurred.
Retail businesses should have a procedure for the steps to take in the event of a Hold up, with relevant staff trained so that if it does happen they will be more able to handle the situation. Bomb threats are a potential crisis for all food businesses and there should be a method for how to talk on the phone, and the steps needed after the call.
Most businesses are now operating with all records held by their computer systems. Therefore, it is an essential risk management requirement to have back ups and steps in place if the computers fail.
The heart and soul of all businesses are the staff. All businesses need to have plans in place to ensure that if key staff are not present (ie; holidays, resignations, sickness), the business is able to continue with little or no change.
Having documented procedures for everything in the business is one recognised method for doing this. The systems need to be set up so they will continue to function effectively with, or without the person.