7 Personnel

7.1 Training: raw material handling, preparation, processing, packing and storage areas
Fundamental The company shall ensure that all personnel performing work that affects product safety,
SOI legality and quality are demonstrably competent to carry out their activity, through
training, work experience or qualification.
Clause Requirements Conforms
7.1.1 All relevant personnel,
including agency-supplied staff,
temporary staff and
contractors, shall be
appropriately trained prior to
commencing work and
adequately supervised
throughout the working period.
7.1.2 Where personnel are engaged
in activities relating to critical
control points, relevant training
and competency assessment
shall be in place.
7.1.3 The site shall put in place
documented programmes
covering the training needs of
relevant personnel. These shall
include, at a minimum:
 identifying the necessary
competencies for specific
roles
 providing training or other
action to ensure staff have
the necessary
competencies
 reviewing the effectiveness
of training
 delivery of training in the
appropriate language of
trainees.
7.1.4 All relevant personnel,
including engineers, agency-
supplied staff, temporary staff
and contractors, shall have
received general allergen
awareness training and be
trained in the site’s allergen-
handling procedures.
7.1.5 All relevant personnel
(including relevant agency-
supplied staff, temporary staff
and contractors) shall have
received training on the site’s
labelling and packing processes
which are designed to ensure
the correct labelling and
packing of products.
7.1.6 Records of all training shall be
available. These shall include,
at a minimum:
  the name of the trainee
and confirmation of
attendance
 the date and duration of
the training
 the title or course contents,
as appropriate
 the training provider
 for internal courses, a
reference to the material,
work instruction or
procedure that is used in
the training.
Where training is undertaken
by agencies on behalf of the
company, records of the
training shall be available.
7.1.7 The company shall routinely
review the competencies of its
staff. As appropriate, it shall
provide relevant training. This
may be in the form of training,
refresher training, coaching,
mentoring or on-the-job
experience.
7.2 Personal hygiene: raw material handling, preparation, processing, packing and storage
areas
The site’s personal hygiene standards shall
SOI
be developed to minimise the risk of product
contamination from personnel, be
appropriate to the products produced and
be adopted by all personnel, including
agency-supplied staff, contractors and
visitors to the production facility.
Clause Requirements Conforms
The requirements for personal
7.2.1
hygiene shall be documented
and communicated to all
personnel. These shall include,
at a minimum, the following:
 watches shall
not be worn
 jewellery shall
not be worn, with the
exception of a plain
wedding ring, wedding
wristband or medical
alert jewellery
 rings and studs
in exposed parts of the
body, such as ears,
noses and eyebrows,
shall not be worn
 fingernails shall
be kept short, clean
 and unvarnished
 false fingernails
and nail art shall not be
permitted
 excessive
perfume or aftershave
shall not be worn.
Compliance with the
requirements shall be checked
routinely.
Hand-washing shall be
7.2.2
performed on entry to the
production areas and at a
frequency that is appropriate
to minimise the risk of product
contamination.
All cuts and grazes on exposed
7.2.3
skin shall be covered by an
appropriately coloured plaster
that is different from the
product colour (preferably
blue) and contains a metal
detectable strip. These shall be
site-issued and monitored.
Where appropriate, in addition
to the plaster, a glove shall be
worn.
Where metal detection
7.2.4
equipment is used, a sample
from each batch of plasters
shall be successfully tested
through the equipment and
records shall be kept.
Processes and written
7.2.5
instructions for staff shall be in
place to control the use and
storage of personal medicines,
so as to minimise the risk of
product contamination.
7.3 Medical screening
The company shall have procedures in place to ensure that employees, agency staff,
SOI
contractors or visitors are not a source of transmission of food-borne diseases to products.
Clause Requirements Conforms
7.3.1 The site shall make employees
aware of the symptoms of
infection, disease or condition
which would prevent a person
working with open food. The
site shall have a procedure
which enables notification by
employees, including
temporary employees, of any
relevant symptoms, infection,
disease or condition with which
they may have been in contact
 or be suffering from.
7.3.2 Where there may be a risk to
product safety, visitors and
contractors shall be made
aware of the types of
symptoms, infection, disease or
condition which would prevent
a person visiting areas with
open food. Where permitted by
law, visitors shall be required to
complete a health
questionnaire or otherwise
confirm that they are not
suffering from any symptoms
which may put product safety
at risk, prior to entering the
raw material, preparation,
processing, packing and storage
areas.
7.3.3 There shall be procedures for
employees, contractors and
visitors relating to action to be
taken where they may be
suffering from or have been in
contact with an infectious
disease. Expert medical advice
shall be sought where required.
7.4 Protective clothing: employees or visitors to production areas
Suitable site-issued protective clothing shall be worn by employees, contractors or visitors
SOI
working in or entering production areas.
Clause Requirements Conforms
The company shall document
7.4.1
and communicate to all
employees (including agency
and temporary personnel),
contractors or visitors the rules
regarding the wearing of
protective clothing in specified
work areas (e.g. production
areas, storage areas etc.). This
shall also include policies
relating to the wearing of
protective clothing away from
the production environment
(e.g. removal before entering
toilets, and use of canteen and
smoking areas).
7.4.2 Protective clothing shall be
available that:
 is provided in sufficient
numbers for each
employee
 is of suitable design to
prevent contamination of
the product (at a minimum
 containing no external
pockets above the waist or
sewn-on buttons)
 fully contains all scalp hair
to prevent product
contamination
 includes snoods for beards
and moustaches, where
required, to prevent
product contamination.
7.4.3 Laundering of protective
clothing shall take place by an
approved contracted or in-
house laundry using defined
criteria to validate the
effectiveness of the laundering
process. The laundry must
operate procedures which
ensure:
 adequate segregation
between dirty and cleaned
clothes
 effective cleaning of the
protective clothing
 cleaned clothes are
supplied protected from
contamination until use
(e.g. by the use of covers or
bags).
Washing of protective clothing
by the employee is exceptional
but shall be acceptable where
the protective clothing is to
protect the employee from the
products handled and the
clothing is worn in enclosed
product or low-risk areas only.
7.4.4 Protective clothing shall be
changed at an appropriate
frequency, based on risk.
7.4.5 If gloves are used, they shall be
replaced regularly. Where
appropriate, gloves shall be
suitable for food use, of a
disposable type, of a distinctive
colour (blue where possible),
be intact and not shed loose
fibres.
7.4.6 Where items of personal
protective clothing that are not
suitable for laundering are
provided (such as chain mail,
gloves and aprons), these shall
be cleaned and sanitised at a
frequency based on risk.