Our upcoming un-announced recertificaiton audit window starts on Monday 1/23/23 and I have run into a bit of an issue and need some guidance.
We have been dealing with floor repair issues since I started here, but the main crux of the issue is that a relative of the owner is in charge of floor repairs and isn't very pro-active into responding to mine and/or the production manager's pleas to have everything fixed and waited until the last possible minute to start on repairs. We notified them of the issues repeatedly over the past 5 months escalating it as much as possible through phone calls, e-mails, conversations etc. We have a polymer coated floor and it did not hold up as well as it should have over the past 6 months. Only yesterday did this person assemble a crew to tear out the old polymer floor and the floor underneath (concrete) is gravelling in a few major spots. The production manager and I immediately shutdown the area, it isn't safe enough to produce food there at the moment until the floor is fixed.
The SQF code states that
11.1.2.1 Floors shall be made of a smooth, dense, impact-resistant material (we have the dense part covered but it is definitely not impact resistant or smooth). Hence the emergency shutdown.
What I am confused about is the blackout-dates part of the code.
2.1.1.8 Senior site management shall designate defined blackout periods that prevent unannounced re-certification audits from occurring out of season or when the site is not operating for legitimate business reasons. The list of blackout dates and their justification shall be submitted to the certification body a minimum of one (1) month before the sixty (60) day re-certification window for the agreed-upon unannounced audit.
What about this situation? Is it wise or even possible to ask the CB for an emergency blackout? If our auditor shows up next week, we may not be operating and that could be grounds for an automatic failure.