ISO 22000 food safety awareness
One day on the standard that wraps a certifiable management system around a hazard analysis.
- Duration
- 1 day, 7 contact hours
- Level
- Awareness
- Standard
- ISO 22000:2018, the current edition
- Prerequisites
- None, though food hygiene basics help
- Assessment
- Classify 15 control measures into PRP, OPRP and CCP, plus a 20-question check
- Certificate
- ITF certificate of completion
A one-day awareness course on ISO 22000:2018, the food safety management system standard. It covers the clause requirements, the PRP, OPRP and CCP control hierarchy, hazard analysis, and the two-level PDCA structure that distinguishes ISO 22000 from plain HACCP.
- 01 Enquiry
- 02 Needs analysis
- 03 Programme design
- 04 Scheduling
- 05 Delivery
- 06 Assessment
- 07 Certification
- 08 Records
ISO 22000 food safety awareness sits at step 5 of the delivery cycle. You receive course materials and an attendance record.
The classification argument that runs every audit
Many food safety audit disputes come down to one question: is this an OPRP or a CCP, and who decided?
The incentive is obvious once you see it. A CCP needs a measurable critical limit, monitoring at a defined frequency, a documented correction, and product held when it fails. An OPRP needs an action criterion, monitoring that shows the control is applied, and an assessment of the product when it fails. So a control that is genuinely a CCP gets classified as an OPRP because the discipline is cheaper, and everybody involved can explain why in a way that sounds reasonable.
It holds until an auditor asks the question the other way round. If this control fails, can loss of control be detected in time to act on the product, against a limit you can measure? If the honest answer is yes and the control is still an OPRP, the classification needs another look, and every record built on it is evidence of that.
The exercise on this course is built on exactly that judgement. Delegates sort fifteen real control measures and have to justify each one out loud, and the disagreements in the room are the point.
Seven hours, two and a half on clause 8
Clause 8 takes two and a half hours of the seven, because clause 8 is the standard.
| Session | What is covered | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Codex, ISO 22000, FSSC, SFDA | The four names buyers use, and which one the customer in front of you is actually asking for. | 0:45 |
| Clauses 4 and 5 | Context, interested parties, scope, leadership, policy, and the food safety team leader role. | 0:45 |
| Clause 6 | Risks and opportunities, food safety objectives, planning of change. | 1:00 |
| Clause 7 | Resources, external development of the FSMS, competence, awareness, internal and external communication including with the regulator, documented information. | 0:45 |
| Clause 8, the heart of the standard | Operational planning, PRPs and the ISO 22002 prerequisite series, traceability, emergency preparedness, then 8.5 in detail: preliminary information, flow diagrams and their on-site verification, hazard identification and assessment, categorisation of control measures into OPRP and CCP, the hazard control plan with critical limits and action criteria, monitoring and corrections, nonconforming product, withdrawal and recall. | 2:30 |
| Clauses 9 and 10 | Verification activities and analysis of results, internal audit, management review, updating the FSMS, improvement. | 1:15 |
Five things you keep
A hazard control plan template
With separate treatment for OPRPs and CCPs so the classification decision has to be made and recorded rather than blurred.
A PRP checklist mapped to the ISO 22002 series
Built on the prerequisite part for your food chain category, clause by clause, so you can see which programmes you have and which you assumed you had.
The workbook
The standard in working language with the audit question against each clause.
Your own controls, classified
When the course runs on your site, the fifteen controls in the exercise are yours, each with its justification written down.
A ITF certificate of completion
Per delegate, with the classification exercise result recorded.
Where each outcome comes from
- 01
Explain the two PDCA cycles
The management system cycle and the operational cycle inside clause 8, and why the standard is built that way.
- 02
Classify a control measure and defend it
PRP, OPRP or CCP, with the reasoning written down. Assessed on fifteen real controls.
- 03
Describe the food safety team properly
Multidisciplinary, with named competence, and why a team of one QA manager is a finding waiting to happen.
- 04
Outline the clause 8.5 hazard analysis steps
In order, including the on-site flow diagram verification that is the step most often skipped.
- 05
Use validation, verification and monitoring correctly
Three words used interchangeably on many sites, and three genuinely different activities with different evidence.
A bakery group moving past its HACCP plan
A bakery group in Riyadh runs a working HACCP plan across two production sites. A retail customer has asked it to move to a certifiable food safety management system, and the group wants to know what that means before agreeing a timeline.
The QA manager sent the hazard control plan and the PRP list ahead of the day. The classification exercise used the group's own controls: oven temperature, metal detection, allergen segregation on the shared line, and the cleaning of the slicer.
Each control was classified and justified in writing, starting with allergen segregation, which the existing plan listed as a PRP. Production, maintenance and hygiene all attended, so the flow diagram discussion covered both shifts' changeovers, not only the day shift's.
The group ended up holding its own controls classified with written justification, a PRP checklist mapped to the ISO 22002 part for food manufacturing showing its gaps, and a certificate per team member.
Who should be in the room
The best version of this day is the whole food safety team together, because the flow diagram exercise only works when production, maintenance, QA and hygiene are all in the room.
The multidisciplinary team the standard requires
QA, production, maintenance, hygiene and warehouse together. The standard requires the team to be multidisciplinary, and many sites appoint one and never convene it.
- Build a flow diagram that matches what the line actually does
- Understand what each function owes the hazard analysis
- Know why maintenance belongs in the room and not on the circulation list
The people who own the plan
QA and QC staff in food manufacturing, catering and food warehousing who maintain the system between audits.
- Classify controls correctly and record the justification
- Map your PRPs against the ISO 22002 part for your category
- Know what verification the standard actually requires and how often
Sites going from a plan to a system
Companies with a working HACCP plan whose customers have started asking for a certifiable management system instead.
- See exactly what ISO 22000 adds on top of a HACCP plan
- Understand what leadership, competence and internal audit mean here
- Scope the work before committing to a certification timeline
Questions buyers actually ask
What is the actual difference between an OPRP and a CCP?
A CCP has a measurable critical limit, and failure means the product is potentially unsafe and must be held. An OPRP has an action criterion and is verified by measurement or observation; failure triggers correction and evaluation, not automatic product loss. Many audit disputes come from classifying something as an OPRP to avoid the discipline a CCP demands, and the exercise on this course is built on exactly that.
Do we need ISO 22000 if we already have HACCP?
It depends who is asking. A HACCP plan controls hazards. ISO 22000 wraps a certifiable management system around it: leadership, competence, documented information, internal audit, management review. Retail and export buyers increasingly want the system, not just the plan.
Is ISO 22000 the same as FSSC 22000?
No. FSSC 22000 is a GFSI-recognised certification scheme that uses ISO 22000 plus a sector prerequisite standard plus its own additional requirements. If your customer said FSSC, ISO 22000 alone will not satisfy them.
Can our whole food safety team attend?
Yes, and it is the best use of the day. The standard requires a multidisciplinary team, and having production, maintenance, QA and hygiene in the same room is the only condition under which the flow diagram exercise produces anything real.
Is the certificate recognised?
It is an ITF certificate of completion, and it records that the participant attended and met the assessment criteria on the day. It is not an accredited qualification. It is the kind of evidence a management system asks for under ISO 9001 clause 7.2 and its equivalents. If your buyer or regulator names a certificate issued under an accreditation scheme, tell us at enquiry and we will say plainly whether ours fits.
Can you run it in Arabic?
Yes. Arabic, English, or Arabic delivery with English material, which is the usual request for a mixed room. Confirm the language when you book, because it decides which trainer and which handouts are scheduled.
Do you come to our site?
Yes, and it is the default. On your site the exercises run on your own documents and processes, and the participants lose no travel time. We need a room, a screen, and the participants released from the floor for the whole session.
How many people can attend?
Awareness courses work up to about 20. Courses with assessed practical work cap at about 12 to 15, so every person does the exercise rather than watching it. These caps are our teaching judgement, not an external rule.
Who delivers it?
Practising auditors. The people teaching these courses spend their working weeks inside factories, warehouses, kitchens and offices carrying out audits, and the examples in the room come from that work. The standard every trainer meets is set out on the trainers page.
What if someone misses a day, or does not pass?
There is no certificate for partial attendance or a failed assessment. The participant can join the missed day or retake the assessment on a later run, and we tell you which person and why. We would rather report a gap than issue a record that says something untrue.
The food safety sequence
HACCP, the Codex twelve steps
Two days building a plan for your own product. The hazard analysis underneath ISO 22000.
Read moreImplementationFSSC 22000 scheme requirements
What the scheme adds on top of ISO 22000, and what an unannounced audit looks at.
Read moreAwarenessFood safety for food handlers
The floor-level half day. The prerequisite for delegates with no food hygiene background.
Read moreConsultISO 22000, built with you
When the system itself needs writing, not only the team trained. ITF Consult.
Read morePart of one system
Every division keeps records to the same standard, so the second one you need works the way the first one did.
Get the food safety team in one room
A food safety system usually needs the hazard analysis, the prerequisite programmes and the records to move together, and they rarely do. Tell us which standard your customer named and where your last audit found gaps.