Getting ready for hazard analysis - the homework

Plain-language summary

Before analysing hazards, gather the facts: describe your products and ingredients, define intended use, and draw and verify accurate process flow diagrams.

What the clause is really asking

You cannot analyse hazards you do not understand. This clause covers the preliminary steps - assembling a multidisciplinary food-safety team, describing raw materials and finished products, defining intended use and the consumer (including vulnerable groups), and preparing process flow diagrams that are confirmed on site. It is the groundwork that makes the hazard analysis valid.

What auditors look for

Auditors check the flow diagrams against what actually happens on the floor - a diagram that omits a step or a rework loop undermines the whole study. They review product descriptions for completeness (allergens, pH, water activity, shelf life) and check intended use covers vulnerable consumers.

Typical evidence

Food-safety team composition; raw material and product descriptions; intended-use statements; signed-off process flow diagrams verified on site

How to comply — recommendations

Build a team with the right mix of production, hygiene, engineering and technical knowledge. Describe products and ingredients thoroughly - allergens, intrinsic factors, packaging, shelf life - and define who eats the product, including the vulnerable. Walk every flow diagram on the floor and have it signed as verified.

Common nonconformities

Flow diagram does not match the line; rework or packaging steps missing; intended use ignores vulnerable consumers; product descriptions missing allergen or intrinsic-factor data

Resources for this clause

• ArticleHACCP plan explained: the 12 steps, a worked hazard analysis, and where CCPs end and OPRPs begin
• Toolkit · $29HACCP Plan ToolkitA complete HACCP study in one workbook: rate likelihood and severity and the significance answers itself; answer five plain-English questions and the workbook tells you whether it is a CCP, an OPRP or a prerequisite programme.
• Free downloadHACCP Flow & Product Description TemplateThe first five steps of a HACCP study — the two documents every hazard you find later is built on, and the two where more studies go wrong than anywhere else.
• Free masterclass · ~20 minHACCP Plan MasterclassThe Codex 12 steps end to end on one worked product — the hazard analysis, the significance matrix, the five determination questions, and the honest test for telling a CCP from an OPRP.