Manufacturers reveal food safety training challenges

The survey questioned food and drink manufacturers and processors worldwide to identify the needs, effectiveness and challenges of food safety training in the industry. More than 1,400 responses from 20 food industry sectors globally were recorded.

Of the manufacturers surveyed, 74% said they had a clear vision for improving food safety, while 55% said their company was a leader in food safety. A further 83% said that they were able to provide food safety training needed to drive behaviours.

Campden BRI identified the top three challenges food and drink producers faced when trying to provide food safety training to their employees.  

Scheduling time for training​

These challenges were scheduling time for training, verifying the training’s effectiveness and organising refreshers for staff who had been with the company for a long time.

The survey also found that negative employee attitudes, high staff turnover and a lack of effective communications were three challenges food and drink manufacturers faced when developing a strong food safety culture.

Bertrand Emond, head of membership and training at Campden BRI, said: “The survey shows a strong management commitment to food safety, but there are execution gaps that need attention –like ensuring all employees are consistently following safety procedures on the production floor.​

“It also highlighted the need for the technical and food safety team to work closely with the HR and senior management team to optimise the effectiveness of the training and engagement programmes.”​

Effectiveness of training​

Ermond noted that very little progress had been made on improving the effectiveness of training over the past five years, and the take up of more novel learning and training delivery methods had been slow.

“The survey is a great tool for companies to benchmark and continuously improve their own food safety training programmes,”​ he added.

If you and your business are facing food safety training challenges, or need advice for the huge changes expected in the food and drink industry over the next few years, register your interest​ for this year’s Food Safety Conference to be held on June 21 at etc.venues in Birmingham.

Meanwhile, many UK food and drink manufacturers are putting themselves and their customers at risk​ by relying on outdated paper-based systems to capture data and monitor their operational performance and product quality, warn several suppliers of software to the sector.