Records
An auditor asks to see, not to hear
The most common thing said when paperwork comes up: "we always do it, we just do not write it down." An auditor cannot act on that, and it is worth understanding why.
What counts as evidence
A record with three things on it: a date, a reading or observation, and the name or initials of whoever took it. That is the minimum. It does not need to be elaborate, and a simple paper log that gets completed beats a sophisticated system nobody fills in.
A conversation is not evidence. Neither is a policy that says a check happens. The record is the only thing that shows it did.
Why gaps are worse than nothing
No log at all looks disorganised. A log with three weeks missing looks like something happened in those three weeks — and an assessor has to consider that it might have.
It is also the easiest thing in the world to spot. Blank rows draw the eye immediately, and they invite exactly the questions you would rather not be answering.
Completed at the time, not at the end of the shift
A log filled in from memory at close of business is not a record of monitoring. It is a record of what someone remembered. The whole point of monitoring is that a limit breach gets noticed while something can still be done about it.
Records written in one pen, in one handwriting, with suspiciously consistent numbers are also obvious. Real records look like real records.
The corrective action column
A reading outside the limit with nothing recorded beside it is the finding an assessor will raise. Not because the breach happened — breaches happen — but because there is no evidence anyone responded to it.
What you did about it matters more than the breach itself. Moved stock, adjusted the unit, discarded product: write it down.
What to do this week
Open your temperature logs and look for blanks and for out-of-limit readings with no action recorded. Fix the habit before you fix the format — a better-designed log that nobody completes solves nothing.
The short version
A record needs a date, a reading and a name. Complete it at the time, not at the end of the shift, and always record what you did about an out-of-limit result.
This is general information, not advice for your specific business. Check the requirements that apply to you against the current Food Standards Code and your own licence conditions.
The records for this
The free Food Safety Record Pack has fifteen everyday records including temperature, cooling, calibration and cleaning logs — with document control and a worked example on every sheet. No cost.
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