Freshcare has developed its certification programs to meet the latest market requirements and international standards for Food Safety and Quality 4.2 and Supply Chain 2, which ensures continued access to markets around the world for Australian produce.
Certification requirements specifies that measurable objectives are included as part of your Food Safety Policy, this supports continuous improvement and assists your businesses in meeting food safety needs.
Who needs to complete measurable objectives?
- Food Safety & Quality and Supply Chain participants
Where are they recorded?
- On your M1 Food Safety and Quality Policy document.
What are measurable objectives?
- Measurable objectives are specific and quantifiable, that is you can measure the objective.
For example:
- Reduction in complaints by x% each 6 months
- To respond to customer complaints within x hours
- To ensure that there is no chemical residue limit breach detected in any of x product.
- Reduce the number of food safety incidents by 50% within the next six months compared to the same time last year.
Why set measurable objectives as part of your Food Safety & Quality Policy?
- Allows you to track your progress and stay motivated.
- Supports and demonstrates a culture of food safety and quality in the business.
- Allows you to track your progress over time, identify trends and make informed decisions and as such demonstrates continuous improvement.
How to set measurable objectives?
When setting Measurable objectives, you can use the SMART formula to ensure each objective covers five key aspects:
- Specific to your business. Use your business data and target areas of improvement.
- Measurable (via monitoring and use of data). How will you measure progress?
- Achievable by your business. Set realistic objectives that are attainable. These can be small which makes the objective more achievable and likely to succeed.
- Realistic. Ensure that the objective is achievable to your business.
- Time-bound for completion. Set a deadline for when the objective should be met
What now?
- Use the SMART criteria when setting your Food Safety & Quality Objectives
- Define and identify specific metrics that will help measure your success
- If the objective is large, break this down to smaller actionable steps. This makes it easier to track your progress and if needed adjustments can be made.
- Establish a baseline which helps measure improvement over time.
- Review your progress regularly and adjust strategies if you’ re not on track.
- Lastly ensure you document everything.
For more information refer to the FSQ4.2 and SCS2 Factsheet M1 Scope and Commitment in Freshcare Online
