The third annual global survey of food safety training reveals some interesting developments:

• There has been an improvement in both the quality and quantity of food safety training since last year
• Content is king – relevant, current training is more important than both the cost and delivery method
• Lack of resources and time are cited as the biggest challenges to effective training
• Developing a strong, positive food safety culture is now recognised as a key success factor

The survey released by Campden BRI and Alchemy in partnership with BRC, SGS, SQF and TSI, questioned food and drink manufacturers and processors worldwide to identify the needs, effectiveness and challenges of food safety training in the industry.

Increase in quantity and quality of training

The survey showed that there has been an improvement in both the quality and quantity of training compared to 2014. 42% of those surveyed said there had been an increase in the quantity of training and 45% felt the quality of training had improved. With 55% of employees and 45% of managers stating that they undertake less than eight hours of training last year, it’s likely that respondents have underestimated the amount of training they actually receive. For example, trainers often focus on classroom training and not count other learning activities such as peer-to-peer training.

Relevant and current training content was named as the top factor used to select a training provider, beating cost and delivery methods. Employee engagement and comprehension of the training was the second most important factor.

For many people work is becoming increasingly technologically mediated, but traditional methods such as on-the-job and classroom training are used more commonly. E-learning and interactive technologies were only used by 35% and 15% respectively and 68% of training records were still held in some kind of paper form; 60% used Excel spreadsheet and just 20% used a learning management system.

Developing solutions to industry’s food safety challenges

Bertrand Emond, Head of Membership and Training at Campden BRI said: “The survey provides us with invaluable information which allows us to respond to the needs of industry and develop solutions to the challenges they face in this area. We have recently partnered with TSI to develop a Food Safety Culture Excellence program which allows a company to get a comprehensive picture of their food safety culture and measure the impact of training.”

Benchmarking tool

The survey was sent to over 25,000 food manufacturing and processing sites worldwide, so the results provide a complete useful snapshot of the current activities and practices in food safety training. The companies surveyed represent a cross section of the industry and ranged in size from under 50 employees to over 1,000 and cover many sectors including cereal and baking, dairy, meats, fish and poultry, and packaging.

The results of the survey are an excellent way for food manufacturers and processors to benchmark their performance against their competitors and identify any opportunities for development. The survey is conducted annually so it will track developments and trends in food safety training.

To read the full results of the study, which surveyed companies on all areas of food safety from auditing and measuring competency to management of training records, please visit www.campdenbri.co.uk/training/GFSI.pdf