Monitoring and Measurement of an FSMS Based on ISO 22000
This domain tests clause 9: how you measure whether the FSMS is working, and how you prove it with data rather than opinion.
Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation (9.1)
The organisation must determine what to monitor, the methods, when, who and the criteria for evaluation, then analyse and evaluate the results. Typical measures: CCP/OPRP compliance rate, verification sampling results, environmental monitoring trends, complaint and withdrawal rates, supplier performance, calibration status, corrective action closure time.
Verification activities
Verification answers "did the controls work?" and includes product testing, environmental swabbing, review of monitoring records, calibration of measuring equipment and PRP checks. Distinguish this from validation, which asks whether a control could work at all.
Internal audit (9.2)
An audit programme with frequency, methods, criteria and scope; auditors who do not audit their own work; competent auditors with product and process knowledge; results reported to the relevant managers and to top management.
Management review (9.3)
Inputs include nonconformities, audit results, verification results, complaints, withdrawals, changes and resource adequacy. Outputs must be decisions and actions, not minutes that record only that the meeting happened.
Worked example
A dairy sets a monthly verification plan: 30 finished-product samples for pathogens, 60 environmental swabs in high-care areas, and quarterly record reviews of every CCP. When swab positives cluster in one drain over three months, the data feeds management review and becomes an improvement action. The reasoning: 9.1 requires evaluation against criteria, so the sampling plan needs a defined trigger for action before data is collected.
Traps
Auditors auditing their own department; management review with no decisions or resource commitments; calibrating a thermometer but never verifying the product or process; collecting monitoring data with no defined evaluation criteria.