BRC FOOD 8: Make your employees the strongest link in your company.
BRC 8 focuses on the human aspect
A new year, a new version of BRC. This version draws attention to culture, awareness and engagement. At Food Security, we have been responding to these factors for many years now by creating a positive crisis management culture within your company.
The new BRC FOOD 8 emphasises the importance of a Food Safety Culture. Food safety used to be primarily the responsibility of the quality services. From now on they will check whether a food safety culture is present throughout the whole company: from the management to the employees. The human aspect is therefore a central component within BRC 8.
As our approach shows, we have been convinced of the importance of food safety culture for years:
- During our membership meeting on Food Safety Culture we introduced you to Elien De Boeck's self-assessment tool.
- Moreover, several of our training courses focus on your company’s awareness: from the management to the employees.
- Furthermore, according to BRC FOOD 8, there is a pressing need for a contact point* where your employees can report irregularities within your company anonymously. We offer this new service to our members from 2019 onwards.
*NEW: Food Security launches an external contact point for its members. Learn more? Please do not hesitate to contact us!
3 tips!
Food safety & crisis management: a cultural matter
Not only food safety but also crisis management create your company’s DNA. We would love to help you to create and develop a positive crisis management culture by offering training courses and exercises.
Engagement: from employee to CEO
The human aspect is the most important link in your chain. The role of management is to positively inspire the employees and to stimulate open communication. In order to reduce the risk of incidents, clear procedures should be laid down. Employees should know and respect the regulations and should be encouraged to notice and report irregularities.
Hear, see and speak
To this day, employees are still no robots. They “reside” in your company for a long time and see and hear all kinds of things. They should be able to report irregularities in complete confidence. This can be done through a confidential contact person, mailbox or contact point, anonymously or not.
Food Security helps its members by:
Launching a BRC contact point for its members where employees can leave their message anonymously.
Offering a kick-off “positive crisis management culture” where we determine how far your company is on both Food Safety and Food Defense.
Organising an awareness session to raise awareness among your employees concerning their roles in multiple areas (incident awareness, cyber security)
Learning points
Change communication: without strategy, no support
A major restructuring at an international food company caused turmoil in the workplace. Hundreds of jobs were at risk, which deeply affected the employees. Barely a month later,...
How a missed incident report led to a major recall
A consumer finds a piece of plastic in one of your products. What at first presented as an isolated case, turned out to be a tell-tale sign for a bigger issue. Several people re...
Food Fraud: What if your product unintentionally contains banned substances?
A banned substance ends up in your product through a raw material. The consequences are widespread: various products must be recalled, consumers are worried, and the reputation ...