Mentor and Consultant for SALSA from Castle Metrics
Mentoring and Consultancy Services at your premises
Client base
Castle Metrics works with organisations at all levels to support their specific industry goals, and Susan Alexander is a management system consultant for HACCP and quality management systems.
Our client base includes global engineering companies, global food manufacturers and manufacturers of medical devices, universities in England, schools and colleges, the police force, superyacht crew, NHS hospitals, and small, local businesses such as micro-breweries, dairies and charcuterie producers.
Why choose us?
We are most proud of our attention to detail which means that you achieve what you are aiming for, and this is reflected in fantastic feedback from our clients. We put our success down to our willingness and ability to tailor our training and consultancy to meet your specific needs, so that you get exactly the help that you’re looking for.
SALSA Food & Drink Production is a robust food safety Standard for small UK-based food and drink producers operating from a commercial kitchen. Our original Standard reflects both the legal requirements of producers and the enhanced expectations of professional buyers.
Consultancy and Mentoring Service for implementation of Codex HACCP, BRCGS, SALSA, GFSI and Food Safety Management Systems and Standards
We help you develop your food safety management systems with our HACCP consultancy and mentoring service.
Whether you’re starting from scratch or working towards BRC, SALSA or an ISO standard, we are here to help. You may choose anything from a couple of mentoring sessions on-site at your premises, to ongoing support or ad hoc support, such as one-to-one training sessions, practical workshops for the HACCP team, document reviews and guidance, and a structured approach to staff training.
Nobody can “do” your HACCP for you – but we do enjoy helping and giving you detailed guidance, instruction and feedback so that you learn how to develop and improve your HACCP and take ownership of it yourselves!
Please contact us for an informal chat and we’ll be very happy to talk to you.
Castle Metrics is a
Approved Mentor for SALSA
As an Approved Mentor for SALSA, Castle Metrics can help you achieve SALSA Certification for a range of SALSA standards, including Mentor for SALSA Food and Drink Production, Mentor for SALSA plus Cheese, Mentor for SALSA plus Beer and Mentor for SALSA Brokers, Storage and Distribution. Find out more below on our specific SALSA Mentor services.
Mentor for SALSA Food and Drink Production
Castle Metrics can help you achieve certification for the SALSA Standard for brokers, storage, and distribution for small businesses that place products on the market that they have acquired or taken title to but have not manufactured.
Mentor for SALSA plus Cheese
Castle Metrics can help you achieve certification for SALSA plus Cheese has been developed to offer small and micro cheesemakers a food safety certification tailored to the scale and complexities of their small, cheese making operation.
Mentor for SALSA plus Beer
Castle Metrics can help you achieve certification for SALSA plus Beer has been developed in association with Cask Marque, to offer small and micro-sized brewers a Standard tailored to the scale and systems of their brewing operation.
Mentor for SALSA Brokers, Storage and Distribution
Castle Metrics can help you achieve certification for the Standard for brokers, storage, and distribution for small businesses that place products on the market that they have acquired or taken title to but have not manufactured.
Get in touch for help with your SALSA Certification
If you are working towards getting SALSA certification or preparing for a SALSA audit please get in touch
Consultancy and Mentoring Service for applying your Internal Auditing System
For ISO 15189, ISO 13485, ISO 9001, BRC Global Standards, BRC standards for packaging, SALSA
Lots of clients struggle with designing their internal auditing system and then putting into practice. We’re here to help you! Your internal auditing system is key to the success of your organisation and we offer you a free bespoke half-day consultancy in applying internal auditing procedures as a follow-on from taking Level 3 Award in Auditing and Inspection Skills (RQF) qualifications (if held on-site at your premises locally – via my sister business Aaron Scott and Black).
In addition, we offer a nationwide internal auditing mentoring and consultancy service both on-site at your premises and remotely (document review) to help you with designing and putting your internal auditing plans into practice. Please contact us for details and we’ll be very happy to talk to you.
Your Personalised SALSA Consultancy Service
I’m passionate about delivering a personalised consultancy and training service for smaller businesses, giving you as much or as little help and input as you need. This is usually to enable you to understand and implement HACCP systems, and particularly to achieve your SALSA certification.
My public health business, Aaron Scott and Black is in its 18th year, delivering training, auditing and mentoring throughout the South of England. I really enjoy developing a close and productive working relationship with each of my clients in food and drinks manufacturing. We always start off by agreeing on what you want to achieve, and then make a clear plan of action so that we can work effectively towards your goals with a time-line in mind.
You might call me in right at the start of your project, for example to create and train your HACCP team in food safety, HACCP and auditing. Or you might be aiming for SALSA certification for the first time, and need help with everything, ranging from setting up and maintaining all the documents you’ll need, to implementing the whole food safety management system. We plan it one step at a time in manageable chunks.
Later on, your organisation might like my specialist help in a technical area, in setting up and conducting your system of internal audits, traceability exercises and mock recalls – and all of these are required for SALSA certification. I’ll be there to help you at every step of the way as and when you need me.
As well as working as a consultant and mentor for food manufacturing businesses, I also deliver accredited training courses in HACCP, Food Safety, Health & Safety, and Auditing (Internal and Lead Auditor courses) – which means that I can offer you a one-stop-shop for training, mentoring, and preparation for SALSA and other audits.
In addition to the SALSA Standard, I help businesses implement the BRCGS Standards, International Food Safety Management Systems Standards ISO 22000, FSSC 22000 and international standards for medical laboratories and calibration laboratories (ISO 15189 and ISO 17025). I work as a subject matter expert and consultant in many areas of food safety compliance, for example the application of TACCP (threat analysis) and VACCP (vulnerability assessments).
I’m a Chartered Scientist and Chartered Biologist and have a background as a Laboratory Analyst (microbiology) as well as a PGCE teaching degree.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me for a preliminary chat to see how I can help your business.
Allergen Management for food manufacturing bespoke mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Calibration and Control of Monitoring Devices bespoke mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Complaint handling for food manufacturing, with Control of Non-Conforming Product mentoring and guidance
Control measures determination in HACCP, OPRPs and GMPs
Corrective Action at CCPs for your organisation, Root Cause Analysis and Verifying Effectiveness of Actions (Codex HACCP Principles 5 and 6) bespoke mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Corrective Action plans and managing NCs for food safety management systems
Developing a positive food safety culture in food manufacturing
E coli 0157 – managing hazards and controls in food
External standards and site security for food manufacturers on site mentoring and guidance
Food Safety Legislation and Enforcement in England and Wales
GMPs and HACCP in Dairy Processing
HACCP for Dairy Processing mentoring and guidance
HACCP for Breweries and Distilleries mentoring and guidance
Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment, Determining CCPs for your organisation (Codex HACCP Principles 1 and 2). Practical mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Housekeeping, hygiene and staff facilities for high risk and high care facilities bespoke mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Internal Audit Team Skills Development for implementing food safety management systems
Internal Audit Team Skills Development for implementing ISO 17025 (calibration and testing laboratories); ISO 15189 (medical laboratories) and ISO 13485 (manufacture of medical devices).
Legal labelling for food and drink bespoke mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Listeria monocytogenes – managing hazards and controls in food and food environments
Management of Incidents and Product Withdrawals / Emergency preparedness and response for food manufacturing, including mock recalls mentoring and guidance
Management of Incidents, Product Withdrawal bespoke mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Microbiology – the key factors, for Food Managers
Microbiology – understanding lab test results of food products and environment
Monitoring and Validating Critical Limits for your organisation (Codex HACCP Principles 3 and 4) bespoke mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Personnel hygiene: Protective clothing policies and procedures, laundering, medical screening, personal hygiene and high risk and low risk zones segregation.
Planned preventative maintenance of equipment and facilities in high risk and high care zones bespoke mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Process Flow Diagram. Constructing and on-site verification of your process flow diagram. Includes review/update or starting from scratch. (Codex HACCP Alimentarius Steps 4 and 5) bespoke mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Product Inspection – on-site product testing and on-site laboratory analysis bespoke mentoring and guidance for your organisation
PRPs, GMPs site standards, product and process control, personnel bespoke mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Risk Assessment for HACCP bespoke mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Root cause analysis bespoke practical mentoring and guidance for your organisation
Supplier approval process with risk assessment, incorporating food fraud (VACCP) bespoke mentoring and guidance
TACCP and VACCP practical mentoring
Team Leaders Skills Development: communication and management skills for HACCP and Internal Auditing Team Leaders