Embedding habits of excellence in food safety culture
Embedding a positive culture of food safety starts with your people knowing why. Staff should be empowered by a culture of trust, openness and innovation so that they are motivated and able to own and address risks and issues as they arise.
BSI understands that no two food organizations are exactly alike. Our resources are developed to support all types of food business understand, embrace and embed food safety culture.
Is food safety culture an assessment requirement?
Yes, food safety culture is now a compliance requirement for companies hoping to achieve certification to GFSI-benchmarked standards such as BRCGS, FSSC 2200, SQF, Global GAP and IFS.
The GFSI Benchmarking Requirements Version 2020 includes food safety culture as a requirement. This means that for schemes to achieve the GFSI’s benchmark they now have to include, “elements of food safety culture, at a minimum consisting of: communication, training, feedback from employees and performance measurement on food safety related activities” as well as “the senior management’s commitment”.
How do I demonstrate, measure and/ or improve food safety culture?
Every food organization has a food safety culture, however, its maturity varies by company, site and across teams. The level of maturity is determined by the degree to which food safety is prioritized in the everyday decisions and actions of the people in the business. BSI training courses will help you discover how to measure and improve the maturity of your food safety culture.
BSI believes in the value that embedding a culture of food safety can bring to both the food industry and to consumers. Our work with Cultivate’s Lone Jespersen, Ph.D. in Culture Enabled Food Safety, is a sign of our commitment.
Our training courses are based on Lone’s 20 years of experience, so that you can be sure you’re learning the correct methods to embed a positive and successful food safety culture. Watch the video to learn from Lone how our on-demand training helps organizations put the consumer at the heart of food safety.
As a member of the steering group, Cultivate is also supporting the development of the content of a PAS (publicly available specification) to help organizations of all sizes throughout the food and beverage industry embed food safety culture effectively. BSI’s standards development team is managing the development of PAS 320: A guide to a culture of food safety, bringing together food industry representatives, academia and regulatory bodies to work together to ensure the content of the standard meets the food sector’s needs.
