SQF 2.1.1.3 - Appropriately Staffed
Where it says in 2.1.1.3, "site management shall ensure departments are operations are appropriately staffed and organizationally aligned to meet food safety objectives", does anyone have any sort of guidance resource on how that's interpreted-- particularly the "appropriately staffed" part?
The auditors can use this if they see a lot of holes in the paperwork, a lot of temporary maintenance fixes, the facility is dirty, etc.
This clause makes it fall back onto management and lack of support vs the employees not doing their jobs.
Enough employees to do the work at hand and with the proper skillsets to do it.
This applies to both big and small companies - regardless of size and especially critically looked at when you've got a limited number of people wearing multiple hats.
When you fill out your yearly self-assessment, you're required to provide positive evidence of meeting each SQF code objective. To evaluate this for your facility, I'd review and determine if tasks aren't being completed in each department or if records are getting left blank. You can also include a brief meeting with department heads to specifically address their staffing levels. If you say you're appropriately staffed and the auditor can't find slip-ups, then you're meeting the requirement.