What is in your GMP pre-op check?

The purpose of a pre-op check is to make sure that no hazards exist before you start your production for the day. Find out what you should be checking as part of these checks.

 

In this episode

  • Pre-operational Checks
  • Flow Chart Verification
  • Maintenance of external grounds
  • Food Recalls
  • Multiple auditing customer standards

Transcript

In Episode 14 of HACCP Mentor Review we discuss what should be covered in GMP pre-operational checks, flow chart verification and avoiding overwhelm of implementing another auditing standard into your food business.

What should you cover in a pre-operational check?

The purpose of a GMP pre-op check is to make sure that no hazards exist before you start your production for the day. Also, whoever is designated in your business to carry out these checks needs to be adequately trained. Some of the key areas that need to be checked include:

  • That all of your equipment is clean, maintained and functioning correctly.
  • Staff are complying with personal hygiene procedures.
  • Waste bins are clean and accessible.
  • The correct packaging is on hand
  • Monitoring forms are available as required.
  • There is no evidence of pests or other contaminates.

Pre-op-Checks-HACCP-Mentor

Flow Chart Verification

The importance of undertaking an onsite verification of your flow chart cannot be emphasized enough. This means actually going out into the production area and mapping what you have on paper to what is really actually happening. If you have not identified all steps correctly it can be guaranteed that you won’t have identified and assessed all potential hazards at each step. This leaves your business at risk of hazards being uncontrolled.

Action item of the week

This week’s action gets you outside. Go around and check that all external grounds are maintained. This includes checking that gardens are weeded and tidy, bulk garbage skip bins are controlled with lids down, there is good clearance around the external walls of the building and any pathways, driveways are maintained.

Food Recalls

It has been pretty quiet on the food recall front in the past week with no real significant recalls undertaken. The Food product recalls that have been published related to:

Listeria monocytogenes in Herring and Salmon, Undeclared Eggs and Milk in Roasted Red Pepper Dip and undeclared mustard allergen in Shrimp Haddock Nest.

Adding another auditing standard in your company

It can be overwhelming the thought of having to incorporate another audit standard into your current business. If you already have a GFSI standard in place it is not that much of a leap, but where to start with the whole process can cause anxiety among even the best of QA managers.

After you stop and take a deep breathe, I suggest you get a copy of the new standard for which you are going to be audited against. Go through the standard and map to each requirement the document, record or practice that your business already has in place. You will be effectively undertaking a GAP audit. When you are done with this process, you can then systematically work your way through the identified gaps to put your system into compliance with the additional rules.

Wrap Up

Many thanks for checking out this episode. If you have any questions or feedback on this episode please leave a comment below or just send me an email. Feel free to share with your peers by hitting your preferred social share icon below this post. Until next time, I am Amanda Evans from HACCP Mentor.com

7 thoughts on “What is in your GMP pre-op check?”

    1. Amanda Evans-Lara

      The first thing you need to determine is why are you doing a pre-op check. I do not recommend only completing once a week but instead (in your situation) complete at the beginning of each shift changeover.

  1. Thanks for the information and its very much helpful in understanding and controlling action on the shop floor.

  2. I have just discovered these segments – Thank you so much for doing this
    I like the task of the week idea,

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