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SQF Americas

SQF Americas. Auditor Calibration Webinar. Agenda: SQF Quarterly Calibration Call. Introductions Recap topics from last meeting in July SQFI Quarterly Customer Survey Results SQF Professional 4 hr Update Webinar Summary- Sept. New Definitions of Exempt & N/A

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SQF Americas

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  1. SQF Americas Auditor Calibration Webinar

  2. Agenda: SQF Quarterly Calibration Call • Introductions • Recap topics from last meeting in July • SQFI Quarterly Customer Survey Results • SQF Professional 4 hr Update Webinar Summary- Sept. • New Definitions of Exempt & N/A • Take prof. update online: $150, by Dec. 31 • Common Tech. Concerns: • Accept only thorough longterm Corrective Actions by Clients • SAI and SQFI contacts for BCP and Recall Plans • Auditor Response to Audit Review Findings- QTools • Sign Off in QMI Direct for this meeting • Next Meeting Call Wed. Dec. 11

  3. Introductions • Kristopher Middleton now Technical Manager for many food programs: FSSC, HACCP, other 2nd party & SQF • Welcome new SQF auditor Randy Gaiss • Meet your fellow auditors- assignment • Who on our team is the only auditor registered in Cat 32 for Pet food? • Who on our team used to be an Emergency Medical Technician? • Who on our team is also a tax accountant? • Who is getting married next week?

  4. Recap from July Calibration meeting • Audit Process Flow, Timeline and Review Process • Auditor required to notify Anne when corrective action review completed and audit ready to close; please include SAI Audit # • Added requirement to review entire facility regardless of scope of certification • Facility required to report all regulatory warning letters & recalls to SQFI • Common Technical Concerns on Audits: • Incomplete corrective actions being accepted by auditor Need to ensure facility does long term or root cause analysis of the issue to prevent recurrence; per code 7.1 2. Inaccurate/missing information for 2.1.6 for recall & regulatory notifications- SQFI contact and SAI contact

  5. SAI Expectations- Deadlines & Documents

  6. SQFI Quarterly Customer Survey • Kudos- Nadia, Dan, Ishtiaq- all 10’s!! • “Very objective” • “Very impressed with his/her professionalism” • “He did a great job; did not cut us any slack!” • “Fair findings that we recognized as gaps in our system” • “Auditor was very clear during audit where deficiencies were found & there were no surprises during exit interview” • “She was very clear that her role was to challenge our SQF system and not to provide advice” • “Overall a very positive experience with auditor” • “Impressed with how quickly auditor understood our business” • “Non-conformities found were reasonable and will make us improve”

  7. SQFI Quarterly Customer Survey Room for Improvement: • Communicating with Clients Professionally • Audit Time Management : 80/20 • “Auditor should refrain from expressing political opinions unrelated to audit; it is not fair to auditee to express personal opinions” • “Auditor was condescending when reviewing our verification documents” • Auditor did correlate well with other auditors from the same CB” • “Auditor never reviewed our outside lab services in the 21 hours he was at our facility and we did not know there was a minor scored until we got our report.” • “Auditor had big time management problem during audit, and did not post our audit until day 21 after the audit”

  8. Communicating Professionally w/Clients • Concerns: • Client felt auditor was condescending • Auditor made off hand political comments • Auditor refused to follow facility’s procedures for guests • Best Practices: • Keep conversation professional, friendly (weather & sports) • Avoid controversial topics- politics, unprofessional comments • Always follow facility’s procedures as a guest • Show respect to the facility team • Focus on the audit standards

  9. Facility Audit Time Goal: 80/20

  10. SQF Professional Update Webinar 2013 • Conducted on Sept. 18th • Please enroll and take the webinar on your own, & expense the cost $150. Deadline December 31, 2013 to complete the webinar and short exam following it. (Those who are attending SQFI conference in November and who already took update on 9/18 do not need to enroll) • To enroll, email Henok at SQFI, to pay and get the link to webinar: halemayo@fmi.org • Take notes- there is an exam at the end! • Please email evidence of completion of webinar & exam to sharon.cornelius@saiglobal.com

  11. 2013 SQF Professional Update- Key Points • Q: What is the difference between the terms “Exempt” and “N/A”? • As defined in the SQF 7.1 code glossary Appendix 2, the term Exempt is used when an element of the SQF code does not apply to the SQF system in the operation and the operation has submitted a written request to the certification body prior to the audit, to exclude that element. For example, if the operation has no cold storage facilities then elements under 11.6.1 would be exempt. • (Note: In this example, facility would not have to submit a written request if they have no cold storage; only if they want a specific requirement excluded due to an alternative procedure; for example air dryers instead of paper towels at hand sink.)

  12. 2013 SQF Professional Update- Key Points • N/Ashould be used when the element does not apply during the audit due to a previous non-conformance. N/A indicates that the operation is responsible for implementing those elements when developing the corrective action plan for the element marked N/A. For example: If the facility did not develop a business continuity plan, element 2.1.6.1 would be marked as a Major NC and the subsequent elements (2.1.6.2, 2.1.6.3 and 2.1.6.4 would be marked as N/A. However, the facility would be responsible for addressing elements 2.1.6.2, 2.1.6.3, and 2.1.6.4 in their corrective action plan. • **However, within module 2 many elements are mandatory elements that cannot be reported as ‘not applicable’ or ‘exempt’ and must be audited and compliance/non-compliance reported. 

  13. Common Technical Concerns • Audit Review Findings Process Revised • Reliance Database Challenges • Fostering Thorough Corrective Actions by Clients • SAI and SQFI contacts for BCP and Recall Plans

  14. Auditor Response to Tech Review Findings- Revised- in Qtools Only • Upon receiving automated email from Qtools/Navision, go in to audit card and add brief note for each item you corrected in the reason card, and enter date you acknowledge the review findings. • Attach any corrected documents in Qtools as part of the correction for the finding. Sync. • TM reviews & moves audit to Corrective Action phase in Reliance for client to enter CAs, and completes the package review in Qtools/Navision.

  15. Reliance Challenges • Reliance automated notifications not working for auditors & CBs • Some clients (but not all) are receiving notifications • Reliance support team working on issue; no short term fix • IMMEDIATE ACTION: • Communicate with your facilities by email • When rejecting a CA, email the facility to request them to attach more evidence in Reliance • Communicate by email with Anne when CA review complete

  16. Fostering Thorough Corrective Actions by Clients- Corrections only should be rejected!

  17. Common Technical Concerns: Contacts for SQF Recalls and BC Plans • When writing a non-conformity for 2.1.6, please ensure the correct information is included in the corrective action. Many auditors are accepting CAs with incorrect information for the recall contacts. • SQFI contact: Section A 5.3 of SQF Code: • foodsafetycrisis@sqfi.com • SQF CB contact @ SAI Global: • Anne Cooper • anne.cooper@saiglobal.com • foodrecall@saiglobal.com (coming soon)

  18. QMI Sign Off on Today’s Webinar Participation • Log in to QMI Direct and find the SQF Quarterly Auditor Calibration Training file and sign off and date that you participated. • These slides will be there for you to review and save.

  19. Next Meeting • December 11, 2013 • 8:00 PM Eastern • By Webinar

  20. Questions/Comments? • Action Item Reminders: • Send Anne email with Qtools Audit # when corrective actions are all accepted by you and ready for closure. • Sign off on this meeting in QMI Direct by Oct. 31, 2013 • Take SQF professional update webinar by 12/31/13 • Email Sharon Cornelius with professional update certificate of completion • Submit completed audits to Reliance within 5 days from end date of audit • Thank You!

  21. SAI Global • Anne Cooper • Certification Manager, Agri-Food- Americas • Phone: 1-704-726-8870 • Email: anne.cooper@saiglobal.com

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