Templates and records · HACCP
Food handler training plan
Everyone who touches the food has to know what they are doing and why. The company is responsible for training them and being able to prove it.
In one sentence
The food handler training plan defines the food hygiene training each role needs according to its activity, records who has received it, when and with what content, and checks its effectiveness, because Annex II, Chapter XII, of Regulation (EC) 852/2004 requires the operator to ensure that food handlers are supervised and instructed or trained in food hygiene commensurate with their work.
- Type of information
- Mandatory record Prerequisite required by Annex II, Chapter XII, of Regulation (EC) 852/2004
- Who fills it in
- Quality or HR manager Delivered by trained in-house staff or an external provider
- When
- On joining and periodically Also on changing role or after incidents that call for it
- How long it is kept
- An appropriate period Article 5(4) of Regulation (EC) 852/2004 sets no period: it requires documents and records to be kept for an appropriate length of time. Covering at least the shelf life of the product, with a margin, lets you respond to an inspection or a complaint.
What the standard requires
What HACCP demands and what it leaves to your judgement
The Regulation requires food handlers to be supervised and trained in food hygiene in line with their work activity, and those responsible for the HACCP plan to have adequate training in its principles.
The obligation falls on the business: it decides the training according to the role and must be able to prove it. A generic certificate obtained years ago does not show that the person knows the risks of their current role.
Private standards also ask for the effectiveness of training to be evaluated and for it to be repeated at a defined frequency.
Structure
Fields the template should include
- Role and training required
- Person, start date and role
- Training received: content, duration, trainer
- Date and evidence of attendance
- Assessment of understanding
- Date of next refresher
- On-the-job supervision
Example
Example: new starter in a fictitious ready-meals kitchen
Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Role | Kitchen assistant · handles cooked product |
| Training required | General hygiene, allergens, cooking and cooling CCPs, cleaning |
| Received | 3 h on 1 September 2026 · production supervisor |
| Assessment | 10-question quiz · 9 correct · the missed point reviewed |
| Supervision | Shadowed on CCPs for two weeks |
| Authorisation | Authorised to monitor CCP-1 and CCP-3 from 15 September |
| Refresher | September 2027, or sooner if the plan changes |
At the audit
Mistakes auditors commonly flag
- Generic training, identical for every role.
- Temporary or weekend staff with no recorded training.
- Whoever monitors a CCP has not been trained on it.
- No assessment of what was learned.
- Training is not refreshed when the plan changes.
In Kimobox
How this record is kept in Kimobox
- 1The training matrix is defined by role, with the mandatory courses for each.
- 2Each qualification has an issue date and an expiry date, with a reminder before it lapses.
- 3If training expires, the person stops showing as authorised for that process.
- 4Signed training can condition access to specific areas through access control.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us before getting started
Does the food handler card still exist in Spain?
In Spain there is no longer a mandatory official card. The obligation lies with the business: train each person according to their role and be able to prove it with records.
How often should training be repeated?
The Regulation does not say. A periodic refresher is sensible, which many companies run annually, and always whenever the role, the product or the HACCP plan changes.
Who can deliver it?
In-house staff with sufficient knowledge or an external provider. What matters is that the content is adapted to the role and that a record is kept.
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Sources
Where each figure comes from
References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.
- Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs (Article 5 and Annex II) EUR-Lex · 29 April 2004