Compliance Facilitators by Jeff Friday
Over the last few months, Crest Foods has been developing the new position of Compliance Facilitator. In fact, not one, but two Compliance Facilita- tors have been named. Their objective is to drive down the incident rate for events, namely accidents, food safety problems and quality issues, through the effective and creative management of resources, such as personnel, plant and programs. These positions are focused on personnel, not production. The Compliance Facilitator touches all departments and staff as they relate to the overall operation of the plant floor, with Garett Meiners overseeing resources at the: • West Production Facility • Mix Facility • Warehouse (Packaging & Ingredient Divisions) • Karlin Foods Distribution Center (Warehouse & Assembly Areas) Garett has been at Crest Foods for a number of years and has a great deal of experience in the Warehouse, Produc- tion and Mix Departments. Likewise, Dean Rhodes will cover resources at the Main Plant. Though Dean has only been at Crest for a few months, he brings a wealth of knowledge, as the retired Dixon Fire Chief, along with a great deal of hands-on train- ing experience. They will both have cross-over responsibilities, covering for each other as needed. The Compliance Facilitator will work to reduce the incident rate for events (a.k.a. “problems”) by facilitating or personally performing various duties such as routine training of personnel, ad hoc refresher training and coach- ing, development of training materials and SOPs (standard operating procedures) to facilitate program and em- ployee development. They will be involved in the investigation of root causes for various identified events, partici- pate in the Corrective and Preventative Action (CAPA) process, developing substantive and sustained solutions to reduce future events. They will perform verification activities to confirm that programs are aligned with SOPs and do inspections to identify plant and program deficiencies to reduce future events. They will also participate on the Internal Audit and Safety Teams. Since Crest Foods is SQF certified, the ability to correlate the SQF Code, Crest Foods’ SOPs, actual plant activity, and resolve discrepancies between the three is a foundational activity. Documentation and communication, by means of strong written and verbal skills, and a willingness to work creative schedules, since the company operates nearly 24/7, is also important. Approximately 90% of the Compliance Facilitators’ time will be spent on the floor interacting with, motivating, mentoring and coaching employees. Garett Meiners & Dean Rhodes
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16 Crest Ink July, August & September 2016
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