Self-monitoring plan preparation

Yes. The requirement for a procedure based on the HACCP principles comes from Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and applies to every food handler, from a café to a food producer. The Agriculture and Food Board (PTA) has published separate guidelines for home kitchens, simplified retail and outdoor events: for a smaller and simpler operation the plan is simply shorter.

Two parts. The prerequisite programme describes the everyday routine: premises and equipment, receipt of raw materials, the cold chain, waste, pest control, cleaning and disinfection, water, staff health and personal hygiene, training, traceability and complaint handling. The HACCP part holds the hazard analysis, critical control points, critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification of the system and the documentation procedure. You also get the forms to fill in: temperature logs, the cleaning plan and schedule, and monitoring sheets.

Typically 1–2 weeks after we have mapped your business's activities. The time depends on the complexity of the operation and on how quickly we receive what we need from you: the floor plan, the list of equipment, the menu or product range, and the suppliers.

The one that applies to your line of business. The Agriculture and Food Board has published separate guidelines for catering, retail (full and simplified), wholesale, home kitchens, production, e-commerce, food transport and businesses that only place food on the market, plus a fillable template for outdoor events; there is also a guideline on water used in food handling. We establish which one applies to you while mapping your business.

As a PDF you can print and file, and as an editable Word file so you can amend the plan yourself later when your operation changes. With the plan we explain how to use it day to day and which sheets to fill in.