Up Front

In the November/December 2011 issue of AIB Update, we published Al St. Cyr’s article titled “Inspection Checklist Syndrome” that portrayed his concerns about using checklists when doing self-inspections or company inspections. The article created a lot of discussion. Al received many positive, supportive comments from those in the food industry. As Al’s supervisor, I also received many positive comments, but a few people who favored using checklists during inspections wanted my opinion on the matter.

During my career as an inspector, I often used checklists, but not in the way they were suggesting. When inspecting a facility with which I was familiar, there was always a history of past issues experienced or that similar facilities had experienced. Sometimes, plants would ask me to focus on certain concerns they had or recent events they’d been troubleshooting. I always wrote down these items to ensure they didn’t get overlooked during the inspection, which is so easy to do.

I would also use a map of the facility that listed the various processing lines, departments, services areas, outside grounds, adjacent properties, etc. Realizing I may not be able to cover the entire facility on the visit, I kept a record of the areas I visited and those I didn’t get a chance to inspect. I did this for reporting reasons and to remind myself, and those at the facility, that follow-up was needed. Events often occur during inspections that cause further digging into an issue, limiting the amount of time for the rest of the inspection. Time should never interfere with the performance of an in-depth inspection.

In addition to listing the areas of the plant that were visited, I wanted to remind myself when I performed the inspection. Inspections are educational tools. It’s important to inspect during all phases of the operation: right after startup, near the end of production runs, after maintenance and clean up, during clean up, and during all three shifts. Weekdays are just as important as weekends and down times. As an inspector, you want to observe, but also be observed by personnel. Many second- and third-shift employees are never exposed to an inspection, only the results. From a training standpoint, it is very important that employees on all shifts experience an in-depth inspection, and that the inspector can observe the operation when most upper management members are not in the facility. When issues are found during an inspection, it is common for management to blame second shift, the maintenance team, or the sanitation staff. While not generally the cause, if management has concerns about these shifts, they should participate on the late night inspections.

Another issue I have learned from years of inspecting is that the low priority areas of the facility are often the least maintained. In my experience, these areas are often where some of the major issues are discovered because the staff has quit looking for issues there because they are thought of as low priority.

To agree with Al’s thoughts in “Inspection Checklist Syndrome,” checklists generally are restrictive, but I admit to using them to ensure I don’t forget important items and to remind myself of what areas I have visited and when. When I first began my career as a food safety inspector 37 years ago, I asked my trainer about using a checklist during the exercise. He said he was not opposed to checklists, but that in his experience they are too generalized. He said, “It’s what’s missing from the checklist that you are there to uncover.” To this day I still find his advice to be true.

The author is Vice President of Food Safety Education, AIB International.