Document Control Training

Trainer: Johnson Nderi, Quality Manager

Document Control TrainingDocument Control Training

Prepared for Vert Ltd.


Terms Of ReferenceTerms Of Reference A requirement

– This is a statutory, customer, ethical, moral or legal undertaking needed in an organisation in order to be allowed to operate smoothly

A Document: – This is a hard copy of a controlled form of a requirement,

standard, instruction or formats for records used as part of the due diligence of a system.

A record: – This is a complete written account of an observation done

in the course of executing an activity A procedure:

– This is a set of steps that are predefined with the sole purpose of standardising the way to do a particular activity.


Terms Of Reference Cont’dTerms Of Reference Cont’d A manual

– This is a document that states the company’s intentions (policies) of operating within the confines of all the requirements guiding its operations.

An audit: – This is a systematic check that in the cause of

operations, all intentions required and mentioned in the manual are being achieved, and that corrective actions exist for all actions that contravene these requirements and intentions.

A policy: – This is the position the senior management of a

company holds about how to go about a particular issue in the daily running of a company.


Types of documentsTypes of documentsRequirements:

– These are the standards for which policies, procedures, records and guiding documents are designed with the purpose of fulfilling. Examples:

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) Standard The Global Standard for Food. ISO 22000:2005(E) for food safety The Kenya Standard for Food safety The Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code The International Environmental Standards Local and International legal requirements The EUREP GAP Standard ISO 9000 Standard


Types of documents ContdTypes of documents ContdFormats:

– These are the preconceived and pre-designed sheets in which observations are recorded. Examples:

The intake quality and quantity assessment record The online packing record The online quality assessment record The dispatch record. The crate tag The cold room batch tags The punnet and box labels


Types of documents ContdTypes of documents Contd

Procedures: – Examples:

The Intake quality assessments procedure Traceability Procedure etc


Where do documents come Where do documents come from?from?

The requirements: – Can come from a local or international standard, a

code of practice, a company’s internal requirement, a haccp team recommendation etc.

– The company understands all the requirement with which it is supposed to carry out its business and creates policies to guide all in the organisation to achieve the requirements.

– These requirements should be thoroughly understood by the senior management and the key personnel in an organisation.


Where do documents come from ? Where do documents come from ? ContdContd

The policies: – These are guides formulated by the senior

management with the intention of directing the workforce to achieve the requirements.

– The policies should be held in a manual for ease of referencing and reviews.

– These policies dictate what kind of procedures shall be in place at all levels that they control.

– The policies should be clearly and thoroughly understood by the people who safeguard them.


Where do documents come from ? Where do documents come from ? ContdContd

The Procedures: – These are formulated by key personnel in areas

where operations are carried out.– They are usually found in an operations manual,

but the policies manual clearly states where this manual is to be found for ease of referencing.

– They dictate what kind of records shall be filled in as observations of the actual activity when the procedure is in effect.

– They should be clearly understood by the people implementing them, and also the other interested parties in the food and operational chains.


Where do documents come from ? Where do documents come from ? ContdContd The records:

– These are designed by people supervising the particular activities for which they are intended.

– They can be designed as a result of a need raised by the actual implementers of the procedures.

– They prove that the procedure is working as is, and that the people know what they are doing.

– If they are incomplete, it could be that the procedure is not working or that the people are not completing the observations.

– The people responsible for approving records before filing should be well equipped to be able to criticize the entries in order to continue the due diligence as per the requirements.


The Document Control ProcedureThe Document Control ProcedureThe intention of the document control procedure

is to make people aware of the flow of documents in an organisation

People learn about:– How documents are arranged in the hierarchy of

importance, – Where they are to be found, – Who is authorized to review them,– What happens when a need for review is identified,– What happens when the records are misused,– The timing for filling of records and training about

documents etc.


What is a document control panel?What is a document control panel? These are the tables that consist of:

– Information of how the document was formed– The reason why the document was formed or reviewed.– The date the document was issued or reviewed.– Who issued or authorized the document.– Who the document was issued to.– The document number– The version number– The number of pages the document has.

They appear as headers or footers in every controlled record in the system

Most document control panels in most records are not complete.


What should records consist of?What should records consist of? The title of the record The date(s) and times the record was filled. The scope of the record (i.e. the shift, the products, the

packhouse section etc) The actual accurate observations during the monitoring

period. The signature of the person who filled the record. The signature of the supervisor in charge of the person

who filled the record. The signature of the departmental head (For critical

documents). Corroborative comments for corrective actions or

instructions in the next step in the food chain.


What should records never have?What should records never have?Erasures that are not legible:

– People should ensure that all erasures are done through a clear strikethrough line, and countersigned by the person who is filling the record next to the erasure. Never white out or blot out mistakes on records.

– This tends to look as if it was done to hide an actual non conformance that was earlier recorded in order to pass an audit or escape responsibility after flouting a policy.


What should records never have? What should records never have? ContdContd

Observations meant for other records: – For example a quality comment found in

a production record or an ethical trading comment found in a traceability record.

– this shows disorganization in the flow of process control and makes it very difficult to retrieve the relevant records for due diligence during investigations of customer complaints and audits.



Handwritten adjustments to the authorized formats: – This shows lack of dynamism in document

review with emerging need for changes.– It is a loss of document control. – It leaves auditors with a sense of lack of

confidence in the whole system since due diligence is lost.

– It could mean that the document control procedure is impractical or that resources meant for the procedure to operate is not available for the people implementing systems.



Signatures of unauthorized personnel: – This shows reckless delegation and possible

flouting of procedures without the authorized people noting and preventing problems.

– All signatories should be documented inside the procedures to necessitate good flow of authority.

– Signatories should know the course of actions as per procedure so that they can act accordingly after assessing the observations in the records.

– They should also be able to challenge the accuracy of the observations based on common knowledge and personal observations.



Lack of appropriate signatures: – This shows that the authorized people are not

bothering with whether the system is working or not.

– It also could indicate that the people not signing are not directly related to the activity for which they are required to sign.

– This means that some necessary corrective actions can be overlooked, and the next level of management should decide whether the problem is with the procedure or the person.

– Auditors should highlight this fact during audits.


What should records never have? What should records never have? ContdContdObsolete versions still in circulation:

– This represents a gross lack of training on the people filling the records regarding document control.

– It may be an indication of lack of seriousness of the custodians of the systems if they are signing obsolete versions.

– There should be a procedure for rescinding old versions. This should ideally be the document control procedure.

– Sometimes people use obsolete blank formats for other paperwork e.g. reprinting. It is not allowed in a controlled system, and senior management should understand and uphold that fact.


What should records never have? What should records never have? ContdContdLack of observations at prescribed

times:– Records should be filled as and when the

activities are happening. – This therefore means that all records should

always be up to date, completely filled, free of excessive erasures.

– Incomplete records either show that the person filling them is lethargic and not responsible, the data to observe is unavailable so procedure is not working.

– It could also show that there is no clear and uncompromising way of dealing with incomplete record filling on the part of the custodian of the system.


Standardization in HorticultureStandardization in Horticulture The industry has unanimously embraced the British

standard for standardizing operations in the packhouses.

The standard is now being called the global standard for food after being embraced by the EU member countries.

This means that for us to grow, we have to tailor our systems to eventually attain the requirements of the standard.

The standard is a set of requirements that are agreed upon by retailers in the UK and around Europe that an exporter has to meet in order to trade with them.

It is a sister standard to EUREP GAP in the sense that it is formulated by the same retailers to continue the chain from the farm to the packhouse.

Our documentation has to therefore follow that of the BRC Standard


Flow of documents in a BRC Flow of documents in a BRC PackhousePackhouse

The BRC Standard

The Quality Manual

Documents

The SOP Manual

Records

The Haccp Manual

Audit Reports


Types of Documents In BRC Types of Documents In BRC PackhousesPackhouses

1. Training schedules for such issues as:– Hygiene: Both Personnel and Environmental

hygiene– Haccp Training – BRC Training– Products training: ingredients, grading, defects

etc– Audits handling Training: for internal and

external audits– Supervisory skills trainings– Ethical Trading Initiative trainings– Strategic management trainings– Planning trainings– Pest control surveillance trainings


Types of Documents In BRC Types of Documents In BRC PackhousesPackhouses

2. Bacterial Surveillance Schedules:– Product swabbing schedules– Water microbial testing schedules– Environmental swabbing schedule– Personnel hand swab schedules– Validation of decontamination processes

3. Pest Control Schedules:– Annual pest control contractor visits– Insectrocutor bulb change schedules– Pheromone trap replacement schedules etc


Documents In BRC Packhouses cont’dDocuments In BRC Packhouses cont’d4. Internal Audit Schedules:

– Self Audits: where one criticises the systems under his or her own watch

– Independent Audits: where one audits operations that are independent of his role in the organisation.

5. Cleaning Schedules:– Equipment cleaning schedules– Environmental cleaning schedules– PPE cleaning schedules– Tools cleaning schedules– Machines cleaning schedules– Vehicles cleaning schedules– Tanks cleaning schedules.


Documents In BRC Packhouses cont’dDocuments In BRC Packhouses cont’d6. Glass Audit Schedules:

– Packhouse glass audit schedules– Front office glass audit schedules

7. Maintenance Schedules:– Particular machine maintenance schedules e.g. for generators,

cold rooms, computers, vehicles g-trucks etc.– General Schedules for packhouse, external structures etc.

8. Material Safety Data Sheets– For Detergents– For Packaging Materials


Documents In BRC Packhouses cont’dDocuments In BRC Packhouses cont’d9. Lists (or Masters):

– Products Lists– Assets Lists– Farm inputs lists– Clients’ Lists– Contacts’ Lists– Approved Suppliers’ Lists– Packaging Lists– Chemical Lists– Packhouse produce lists– Workers’ Lists– Activities Lists– Documents lists (Master file content list)– Procedures Lists– File Lists.


Documents In BRC Packhouses cont’dDocuments In BRC Packhouses cont’d10. Company Organograms:

– Company organogram– Packhouse Management Structure– Agronomy Structure– Administrations structures

11. Certificates:– Personnel internal and external competence certificates– Packhouse site audit certificates, international and local– Farm audit certificates– Certificates of participation– Social accountability certificates– Calibration certificates for scales, probes and weights


Records In BRC Packhouses:Records In BRC Packhouses:1. Quality Assessment Records:

– Intake assessment records– QC Online assessment records– Dispatch assessment records– Knife dip Decontamination monitoring records– Sharps issuance and monitoring records– Personal hygiene assessment records– Visitor’s hygiene checks– Contractors’ hygiene checks– Toilet wash check records– Laboratory microbial records– Production Output Records– Daily depot maintenance check sheets– Facility temperature monitoring records– Product cold chain management records


Records In BRC Packhouses Contd:Records In BRC Packhouses Contd:2. Audit checklists:

– Daily hygiene checklists– Daily Glass audit checklists– Daily Glove control check sheets– Daily Plaster check sheets– Internal audit checklists – Daily production start-up check-sheets

3. Internal Calibration Records– Scale Calibration records– Temperature probe calibration records

4. Pest Control Records– Weekly Bait activity Internal checks– Weekly Pheromone activity Internal checks– Second party pest control site visit records


Records In BRC Packhouses Contd:Records In BRC Packhouses Contd:5. Shelf Life Records:

– Daily Shelf life attributes assessment Records– Daily Sensory evaluation records– Shelf life notification records (both internal and customer)– Weather alert records

6. Traceability Records– Production Reception Traceability records– Product Intake batch tags– Online Traceability and production sheets– Product dispatch traceability records (Usu. on dispatch records)– Produce and Reject Crate tags.– Labelling records

7. Maintenance Records– Scheduled Maintenance records etc.