The hazard control plan - CCPs, limits, monitoring and corrections

Plain-language summary

Document the live plan for controlling significant hazards: critical control points and operational PRPs, their limits, how you monitor them, and what you do when they fail (HACCP principles 2-5).

What the clause is really asking

This is the operating heart of HACCP made concrete. For each significant hazard's control, you set critical limits or action criteria, define monitoring (how, how often, by whom), and pre-define corrections and corrective actions for when monitoring shows loss of control. It covers HACCP principles on CCPs, critical limits, monitoring, and corrective action - the rules people actually follow at the line.

What auditors look for

Auditors examine the control plan against practice: are critical limits clear and measurable, is monitoring happening at the stated frequency by competent people, are deviations being detected and the right corrections and corrective actions taken on the affected product. They will look hard at any deviation record.

Typical evidence

Hazard control plan / HACCP plan; CCP and OPRP monitoring records; critical limits and action criteria; deviation and corrective-action records; product disposition decisions

How to comply — recommendations

Write critical limits that are measurable and unambiguous, with monitoring assigned to competent, available people at a frequency that catches loss of control in time. Spell out exactly what to do when a limit is breached - both the immediate correction and the corrective action - and what happens to affected product. Make sure deviations are always recorded and acted on.

Common nonconformities

Vague or unmeasurable critical limits; monitoring frequency too low to catch failures; deviations not recorded; affected product released without proper disposition

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.