Having implemented enhanced control measures over the past couple of months in our food factories it is now time for the Risk Mitigation Team to pause and think for a moment and assess the success of these measures. The Plan, Do, Check, Act approach is the logic behind any continuous improvement process. The approach to COVID-19 by all Food Business Operators was to ‘Do’ the obvious as quickly as possible : hand-washing, zoning, visitor control, cleaning etc., this was followed up by ‘checking’ to see are these controls working. Now is the time for the Risk Mitigation Team to ‘Plan’ logically using the 12 Step Process to develop a Risk Mitigation Strategy that defines company policy, outlines your Risk Assessment approach and develop and document Risk Mitigation Plans for the four pillars.
As it is unknown what will happen over the coming weeks and months, Food Businesses will in time have to demonstrate that their Risk Mitigation Strategy was well thought out (Plan), rigorously implemented (Do), Closely Monitored (Check) and Continually Improved as the Pandemic evolved (Act). To have a comprehensive document available to show that your Food Business at all times looked after the wellbeing of your staff, business and customers will give peace of mind that due diligence was exercised at all times.
