SQT Blog

Food safety is never out of the news. The FSAI (Food Safety Authority of Ireland) served a record 12 enforcement orders on food businesses in October. In the UK this week The Health Protection Agency revealed that two children were in hospital with botulism after eating a contaminated batch of Loyd Grossman sauce. Tests on a jar of Korma sauce had found the toxin that causes botulism.

The need for food safety training is always evident. Our Food Standards auditing course has just been approved by FETAC. This two day training course provides an understanding of a company’s legal commitments to food safety and how to audit compliance with the law and/or relevant food safety standards. This course is at NFQ Level 6 and covers BRC, HACCP, ISO 22000 FSSC, Food Standards Auditing Packages.

Full details of this course are available by clicking on the link above. The next dates available are 6-7 December in Dublin and places are filling fast.

Here is a link to all our food safety courses.

Use graphic, a picture paints a thousand words.

People love pictures, that’s why we all want Smart Phones.

New FETAC management system standards have been developed.

They consist of a 15 credit, Level 6, Special Purpose award, Documented Management Systems which is made up of a mandatory minor, Characteristics of Management Systems, and one of the following minors:
Quality Management Systems
Environmental Management Systems
Health and Safety Management Systems

The draft standards are now up on the FETAC website for comment by interested parties. Here is a link to the page. Instructions as to how you can provide feedback are included.

If these standards are of interest to you/your company, now is the chance to contribute your feedback before the standards are published. Time is of the essence as the opportunity for feedback will only be about 10 days.

It is planned to develop further related standards in the future.

Ed Walsh returned to Ireland in 1970, a young man in a hurry, to set up an institute of education. He found a decaying mansion on a riverside site, gathered talented young people and secured funding from the World Bank and European Investment Bank to build what became the University of Limerick. Along the way, Ed made powerful enemies as he challenged official cant, traditional academics and clerical humbug. This is an inspiring, frank and often funny memoir by a passionate educational leader.*

Along with many others, I attended the launch of Ed Walsh’s memoir Upstart: Friends, Foes and Founding a University last Wednesday night in UL. My husband, Denis, was one of the first intake of students at the then NIHE. Gerry Higgins from Antaris Consulting (who deliver our Quality, Environmental and Health & Safety training), was also one of that group. It was a night of reminiscing for many of those in attendance. Former Ministers for Education Gemma Hussey and Mary O’Rourke gave very interesting and entertaining speeches. In Ed Walsh, they certainly got somebody who was not a bit shy about challenging anything and everything to make UL happen. In Ed Walsh, Ireland surely got an educational visionary.

* Source: Ed Walsh website