The Importance of Training

To maximize safety and quality, businesses must implement an effective and robust training regimen.  By focusing on continual, routine training, businesses can maintain their relevance in the marketplace and reduce the risk of failure that can destroy relationships with their customers.  Providing training ensures that everyone understands the importance of what they do and how they can contribute to the overall success of the business.

Regular training sessions can cover topics such as:

• Core food safety practices

• People safety (Lock-Out/Tag-Out, emergency operations, etc.)

• Key Equipment/Process operations to maximize food safety, quality and efficiency

• Proper food handling techniques

• Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) that outline how the product will be protected (e.g., hairnet/glove usage, smock/uniform requirements, handwashing, etc.)

• Department specific core procedures (Quality, Maintenance, Sanitation, Shipping & Receiving, etc.)

• Core customer consistent processing elements

• Continuous Improvement strategies

• Regulatory/3^rd Party Audit elements

• Company Mission statements

• Human Resources policies

  
  

Training should occur:

• During new hire orientation

• Annually

• Each time policies/procedures are updated

• If there is a failure

Commitment to training takes time and resources, but well worth it to prevent catastrophic failure in key areas of the business.  There are great training systems out there that can help manage the training process, including the testing elements to assure team members understand what they are taught.  They can also assist with the language barriers that sometimes exist.