As a “wanna-be auditor”, and with the help of Linda Jackson and Food Focus, I would also like to acknowledge Donna Crockart, Reshmee Beedasie, Cal Snow and Thea Laufs. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me interview you and speak to you about becoming a Food Safety Auditor.
What training do you need to become a Food Safety Auditor?
Once you are qualified and experienced, your next hurdle is training. In order to do this, you need to decide which body you plan to work for as there are small differences between the various safety systems available. Training allows you to identify these differences. Furthermore, training will also differ in the level you want to audit, for instance simply auditing hygiene vs consultant audits vs FSSC certification audits. The bottom line is that you need to do the training for the corresponding body you plan to work for. Training is proof that you are competent in your learning, throughout your auditing career, you will need to continue doing training courses to ensure that you remain up to date with the latest safety regulations. The cost, number and length of the training sessions will vary between bodies. For instance, to be an FSSC auditor, you need to complete:
- A Lead auditor course of at least 40 hours based on ISO20003, ISO19001 and ISO17021
- At least 16 hours of HACCP training and pass an exam
- An ISO22000 training course and pass an exam
- Training in the topics of food defense and food fraud (should be covered in the other courses mentioned)
- Training in the technical pre-requisite programs relating to food (22000-1) or packaging (22000-4)
- Some Bodies may require you to register for schemes such as SAATCA (South African Auditor and Training Certification).
Almost there! The last big hurdle to becoming an auditor is completing your shadow (or witness) audits. This is the final step, unfortunately, you cannot complete it while training. In order to become an auditor, you need to have some experience auditing facilities, this can be tricky as you need to have audit experience without actually being an auditor. Therefore you do shadow audits, where you tag along to audits, observing everything, a suggestion is to try to see how the auditor conducts their audits and what they tend to focus on. The number of hours (e.g. 4 audits or 160 hours) and specifications of logged shadow audits, depends on the Body you have chosen. If you are working with an auditing company the rest of this paragraph will most likely apply to you. After you have done the shadow audits, you are usually required to finally co-perform an audit. During your first few audits, you will co-audit under a lead auditor who will observe your manner of conducting audits and hopefully guide you. Eventually, as you gain confidence, you will become a ‘full witness’ auditor where you will take over the function of Lead Auditor, however, it seems to be more of a practical exam. In this role, you will be observed throughout the entire process before you will be officially signed off.
The process of becoming an auditor seems long and intense. However, auditors are specialised professionals who must be capable of assessing risk, communicating effectively and have the ability to apply both practical and technical knowledge. In the end, knowing that you are saving lives by preventing foodborne outbreaks due to negligence, makes it totally worth it.
Next week we chat about the job – what is involved in the day-to-day life of an auditor!
By Jesse Kelfkens
