How many people should make up the HACCP food safety team and what training do they require?
The number of people on the HACCP food safety team should be pertinent to the size and structure of the company as the team should include representatives of each department with responsibility for operation of The Standard. It should not be too large and note that 1 person does not constitute a ‘team’. It would be expected that participants should have appropriate training, with particular regard to the team leader. This may be achieved through external, industry recognised training specific to HACCP but may equally be achieved by a good quality internal course. At the audit, the competency and understanding of the HACCP team would be assessed as well as the quality of the resultant HACCP plan. Note that if the HACCP plan has been prepared with the help of an external consultant, internal staff must still be fully conversant with the plan, principles and practices associated with it. Records need also to demonstrate the training of the external consultant in HACCP principles.
