Food Safety Management Systems Archives | GrowEQ: ISO systems, Process Improvement & Management

Training for Profitability

Training helps to turn the theory of quality and safety into reality. Effective training should be a fundamental part of a company’s management system as it can help prevent many quality, safety and environmental problems from ever occurring. Dare I say it – training even improves profitability. Some Facts A study by the American Management Association found that companies that INCREASED their training after changes to their business reported: 63% higher productivity. 69% higher profits. 74% higher quality. In contrast, [...]

ISO Management Systems – 5 Questions Auditors Ask

I have quite a few clients due to be audited soon so I thought I’d write about the things auditors tend to ask. Of course no one can predict all their questions (they are human beings after all), but you can bet that the following 5 questions will be amongst them. 1. What is your policy? Quality/OHS/Environmental/Energy/Food Safety or a combination of them into one integrated policy. This is often one of the first questions asked during a certification audit. [...]

Reduce Costs & Improve Performance

Many companies want ISO certification so they can tick a box on tender requests and thus increase their chances of being shortlisted for valuable tenders. This is one good reason but ISO systems can do so much more. When an ISO system is written with your business needs and goals in mind, when it is tailor made for your products, services and processes then it will reduce costs and improve performance too. In fact, it will be one of the [...]

Top 6 Tips: Choosing a Consultant

You know you need to implement a management system be it ISO 9001 for quality, ISO 14001 for the environment, AS 4801 for safety, ISO 50001 for energy, or a combination of these. You’ve decided that it’s too hard/time consuming/risky to do it yourself. You need a consultant. They have to be experienced, highly effective and hold a successful track record. It’s an important decision, one you can’t afford to get wrong. You need someone who’ll ensure project success. Someone [...]

Is Certification Worth It?

Is Certification Worth It? “To be or not to be that is the question” although I don’t think Hamlet had certification in mind when he said this. It is a decision to be taken on business grounds. Here are some of the reasons why organisations choose certification: By setting a clear goal, certification motivates staff and helps to gain their commitment. Certification improves processes and refines activities. There is nothing like certification for focusing one’s attention on this key requirement. [...]

Keep it Simple

The following information is so important that it is one of my downloadable Top 5 Essential Tips for ISO systems. Why is it so important? Because a) your management system must be simple and practical or your staff won't use it; b) cumbersome systems don't help a business achieve its goals; and c) overcomplicated systems are expensive to maintain. You need a simple system that effectively helps run the business & meet the needs of both customers & stakeholders. Just [...]

What are Corrective Actions?

I ended my previous blog by stating that there is a relationship between non-conformances (problems) and corrective actions (solutions). Clearly action is necessary to fix a problem and this action can take 2 forms – immediate corrective action and root cause corrective action. The names really say it all. You need to take immediate action to prevent the material or service from being used and to fix it. You need to take root cause corrective action to prevent a recurrence [...]

Quality Manual Secrets Revealed

When I audit ISO management systems - be they ISO 9001 for Quality, ISO 14001 for the Environment, ISO 18001 or AS/NZS 4801 for work, health and safety, or ISO 22000 for food safety - I see soooooo many Quality Manuals that are 20, 30, 40 Pages long. There is a better way. The ISO 9001 Quality Management System Requirements Standard states: 4.2.2 Quality manual The organisation has established & will maintain a quality manual that includes: a. the scope of the quality management system, including [...]

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