06 Apr Using Hasmate for Food Safety
The Hasmate online program was designed to be used by all industries, no matter what size.
Here are some specific ways the Hasmate program can be used for those in food manufacturing, and other food related businesses.
Using Assets
Being able to prove that all equipment and machinery used in food production is regularly maintained is an important part of food safety.
By adding each piece of equipment into the Asset module, you can then use the Asset Maintenance section to note down when it has been checked, and any maintenance required. You can also add in a review date for when it should next be checked.
Using the Review History can also be a great way to manage this.
Using Hazards for Food Safety
The Hazards module can be used for your food safety hazards, for identifying critical control points (CCPs) as well as other food related, physical, and environmental hazards in your business.
In Master Files, you can add a “Food Safety” category to the “Hazard Category” Master File. To learn how to add in a new Master File, click here.
The food production hazards become the indicators of the CCPs that require controlling. When you are filling in the hazard, the “Controls” field can be used to identify and to document the method or plan for mitigating the risk. This is where you can also note down how you will check that the food production is safe from this hazard (e.g. temperature checks, storage containers, water quality, etc.).
Use the “Hazard References” field to add other food safety standards or scientific references to prove that your safety measures work.
The Next Review Date can be used to remind you to regularly check on this particular hazard and CCP, and if you conduct any testing (such as laboratory testing), you can note this down when you are undertaking your reviews, explain what you did and the results of that testing. This will then be shown in your Review History.
Using Incidents
As per all industries, this module can be used to record incidents, accidents, and non-conformances.
This could possibly be used for any product recalls.
Using Employees
This module, in conjunction with the Training module, can show at a glance what training any employee has. Being able to prove that your employees are trained and reviewed regularly on all food preparation procedures/documentation is important.
Using Documents
The Documents module is a great place to upload your business documentation, as it allows you to set a review date for the documentation.
Your Food Control Plan as a whole can be added into this module, and the review date can be a reminder about when it is next up to be registered. You must have a procedure for managing versions of your plan to make sure everyone is working to the most up-to-date copy. This is a great way of ensuring this.
Procedures for cleaning, training, and equipment maintenance are all required for food control plans, and they can be added into the Document module, and:
- By adding a review date, an alert will come up when it’s time for the document to be reviewed.
- You can note down any changes/reviews that you undertake for the document.
For information about how to add a document into this module, click here.
Using Training
As mentioned previously, proving that employees are regularly trained on food safety procedures is important.
Please contact us if you wish to discuss this further.