HACCP Documentation & Record-Keeping Procedure

Maintain the documented basis of the HACCP food safety plan

The HACCP Food Safety Team is responsible for creating and maintaining the documentation needed to support the HACCP food safety plan and for ensuring that it accurately reflects products, processes, hazards and controls.

The documented HACCP basis may include team membership and competence information, product descriptions and intended-use statements, verified process flow diagrams, hazard analysis worksheets and supporting evidence, identified control measures including prerequisite programmes and CCPs, critical-limit records, monitoring and corrective-action procedures, validation and verification records, and HACCP review records.

This gives the HACCP system a defined body of controlled information through which the analysis, controls and supporting evidence can be maintained and reviewed.

Connect operational records with HACCP verification and review

The procedure distinguishes the HACCP documentation maintained by the Food Safety Team from the records generated as controls operate. Production or operations personnel are responsible for completing CCP monitoring records at the required frequency and the prerequisite-programme records relevant to their operational area.

Technical or quality management reviews operational CCP monitoring records within defined timeframes and reviews prerequisite-programme records that support HACCP verification. Where required, findings are escalated and corrective actions initiated.

HACCP-related records can also include verification records, internal audit outcomes, monitoring reviews, trend analysis, validation evidence, records of CCP deviations and corrective actions, associated product disposition, HACCP team meeting minutes, review records, test results and sampling outcomes. Together, these records provide traceable evidence of monitoring, verification, corrective action and review.

Keep current HACCP information at the point of use

HACCP documentation is controlled in accordance with the Document Control Procedure. The procedure specifically requires identification of the active revision, removal of superseded documents from points of use, notification of changes to relevant personnel and controlled access to operational documents such as CCP monitoring forms.

Production and operations personnel are required to use only the current approved versions of CCP monitoring forms and other operational HACCP documents, and to report missing or inaccurate documentation to technical or quality management.

These controls make revision status and point-of-use availability part of the HACCP documentation framework rather than leaving operational teams to rely on uncontrolled copies.

Review documentation when the HACCP system may be affected

The HACCP Food Safety Team reviews HACCP documentation when changes may affect hazard analysis or control measures, following significant product-safety incidents or deviations, and following changes to raw materials, processes, equipment, suppliers or regulations. Planned reviews are also used to confirm that the documentation remains accurate and effective.

Review outcomes are recorded and incorporated into the HACCP food safety plan. The Food Safety Team also evaluates HACCP-related records submitted by departments to support verification, validation and review activities, giving the documented plan a defined connection with the evidence generated through operation.

Allocate responsibility across the HACCP documentation system

Senior management provides the resources needed to create, maintain and control HACCP documentation and records and supports improvements to HACCP documentation and record-keeping systems.

Technical or quality management maintains the procedure, keeps it aligned with the HACCP system, coordinates relevant training, ensures HACCP information is controlled through the applicable document and record procedures, and reviews records submitted by operational areas.

The HACCP Food Safety Team is responsible for the technical HACCP documentation and updates it following changes that may affect product safety. Production and operations personnel complete the relevant operational records, submit them for retention or review in accordance with the Record Completion & Maintenance Procedure and report documentation issues to technical or quality management.

Use the wider information-control framework where applicable

This procedure defines the HACCP-specific documentation and record-keeping requirements. General controls for document management sit within PRO-3.2 Document Control Procedure, while requirements for record completion, retention, security and data integrity sit within PRO-3.3 Record Completion & Maintenance Procedure and apply wherever relevant.

That boundary keeps the HACCP procedure focused on the information, responsibilities, reviews and evidence needed for the food safety plan while linking those requirements to the wider FSQMS controls that govern documented information.