HACCP Prerequisite Programmes Management Procedure
Part of Food Industry Hub’s FSQMS Policies and Procedures Suite.
The HACCP – Prerequisite Programmes Management Procedure forms part of the Food Industry Hub FSQMS Policies and Procedures Suite.
It defines how prerequisite programmes are established, implemented, monitored and reviewed to provide the environmental and operational conditions needed for the production of safe and legal food products.
The procedure connects these programmes directly with the HACCP-based food safety plan. It requires prerequisite controls to be appropriate to the site’s products, processes, equipment and production risk zones, documented through supporting procedures, work instructions or schedules, and implemented consistently across the areas where they apply.
Establish prerequisite programmes around site conditions and risk
The procedure provides for prerequisite programmes covering the environmental and operational conditions that prevent or minimise hazards. These may include cleaning and disinfection, pest management, maintenance, personal hygiene, staff training, supplier approval and purchasing, transportation and distribution, cross-contamination prevention and allergen management.
Additional programmes can be introduced where risk identifies a need. Technical or quality management coordinates their development, implementation and maintenance and ensures that prerequisite programmes reflect production risk zoning requirements.
Define controls, monitoring and action criteria
Each prerequisite programme is required to have documented controls and monitoring requirements. These define the activities needed to maintain control, the people responsible for monitoring, the monitoring methods and the applicable acceptance criteria or limits.
The same framework identifies the actions required when acceptance criteria or controls are not met. Department Managers or Functional Leads implement the programmes relevant to their areas, ensure personnel understand the defined controls and monitoring requirements, maintain the associated records and report deviations, issues or changes that may affect operation.
Keep prerequisite programmes connected to HACCP
The HACCP Food Safety Team is required to consider all prerequisite programmes during hazard analysis and to review them at appropriate intervals as part of HACCP review activity.
Technical or quality management also ensures that prerequisite programme controls and monitoring activities are defined, documented and reviewed during HACCP development and review. This keeps the supporting conditions visible within the HACCP process and aligned with the wider food safety system.
Verify effectiveness and review when conditions change
Prerequisite programmes are verified and reviewed to confirm that they remain effective and appropriate. The procedure allows this assessment to draw on monitoring results, internal audit findings, supervisory observations, feedback from production, maintenance, hygiene and engineering teams, and the outcomes of hazard analysis and HACCP review.
Review takes place at least annually, as part of the formal HACCP review, and when changes to materials, processes, equipment or facilities occur. Emerging risks, incidents or recurring issues that indicate potential deficiencies are also review triggers. Changes arising from review are documented, communicated and implemented in a controlled manner.
Allocate ownership from senior management to operational teams
Senior management is responsible for ensuring prerequisite programmes are established, resourced and implemented to support the HACCP food safety plan, with the staffing, time, training, information and financial resources needed to maintain them effectively.
Technical or quality management coordinates the control framework, verifies that programmes remain effective and up to date, and communicates relevant changes. Operational managers implement the controls in their areas, while the HACCP Food Safety Team brings prerequisite programmes into hazard analysis and HACCP review.
Support control with training and evidence
Personnel involved in prerequisite programmes are required to receive training appropriate to their role, covering the purpose of the programmes, required controls and monitoring activities, record-keeping requirements and the action to take when conditions deviate from defined requirements. Training is recorded and its effectiveness reviewed periodically.
Records generated through the procedure may include prerequisite programme descriptions, monitoring records, training records, verification and review records, and corrective-action records relating to prerequisite programme activities.
A prerequisite-programme procedure within the wider FSQMS
Within the Food Industry Hub FSQMS Policies and Procedures Suite, this procedure provides the operating framework for managing prerequisite programmes that support the HACCP food safety plan. It connects site hygiene, facility conditions, maintenance, people, supplier, transport, cross-contamination and allergen controls with documented monitoring, verification, review and HACCP oversight.
For technical and operational teams, it provides a structured way to show how prerequisite conditions are defined, maintained and reviewed as part of the site’s wider food safety and quality management system.