Senior management commitment and continual improvement is one of the fundamentals of BRC.
The site’s senior management shall demonstrate they are fully committed to the implementation of the requirements of the Global Standard for Food Safety and to processes which facilitate continual improvement of food safety and quality management.
What does this mean?
1.1.1
The site shall have a documented policy which states the site’s intention to meet its obligation to produce safe, legal and authentic products to the specified quality, and its responsibility to its customers. This shall be:
· signed by the person with overall responsibility for the site
· communicated to all staff.
1.1.2
The site’s senior management shall define and maintain a clear plan for the development and continuing improvement of a food safety and quality culture. This shall include:
· defined activities involving all sections of the site that have an impact on product safety
· an action plan indicating how the activities will be undertaken and measured, and the intended timescales
· a review of the effectiveness of completed activities.
1.1.3
The site’s senior management shall ensure that clear objectives are defined to maintain and improve the safety, legality and quality of products manufactured, in accordance with the food safety and quality policy and this Standard. These objectives shall be:
· documented and include targets or clear measures of success
· clearly communicated to relevant staff
· monitored and results reported at least quarterly to site senior management.
1.1.4
Management review meetings attended by the site’s senior management shall be undertaken at appropriate planned intervals, annually at a minimum, to review the site performance against the Standard and objectives set in clause 1.1.3. The review process shall include the evaluation of:
· previous management review action plans and timeframes
· the results of internal, second-party and/or third-party audits
· any objectives that have not been met, to understand the underlying reasons. This information shall be used when setting future objectives and to facilitate continual improvement
· any customer complaints and the results of any customer feedback
· any incidents (including both recalls and withdrawals), corrective actions, out-of-specification results and non-conforming materials
· the effectiveness of the systems for HACCP, food defence and authenticity
· resource requirements.
Records of the meeting shall be documented and used to revise the objectives. The decisions and actions agreed within the review process shall be effectively communicated to appropriate staff, and actions implemented within agreed timescales.
1.1.5
The site shall have a demonstrable meeting programme which enables food safety, legality, integrity and quality issues to be brought to the attention of senior management. These meetings shall occur at least monthly.
Employees shall be aware of the need to report any evidence of unsafe or out-of-specification product or raw materials, to a designated manager to enable the resolution of issues requiring immediate action.
1.1.6
The company shall have a confidential reporting system to enable staff to report concerns relating to product safety, integrity, quality and legality.
The mechanism (e.g. the relevant telephone number) for reporting concerns must be clearly communicated to staff.
The company’s senior management shall have a process for assessing any concerns raised. Records of the assessment and, where appropriate, actions taken, shall be documented.
