Internal Audits Before Certification: A Farm Programme
An internal audit checklist farm teams can run themselves is a rehearsal for certification day, not a policing tool. The point is to find the missing temperature log and the unlabelled sanitiser bottle in week three rather than during the external visit in month nine. This article covers how to build an audit calendar from the clauses of the standard, what to check in water, pack house, records and crop areas, how to class findings, what counts as evidence when closing them, and what to do in the final month.
Why Internal Audits Exist: Rehearsal, Not Policing
An internal audit is a dry run of the external one. The auditor asks the same questions, samples the same records and walks the same route, but the result is a list the farm can fix quietly instead of a finding on a certificate.
Posture matters. Run as a blame exercise, a programme produces under-reporting: crew hide gaps, supervisors write findings as observations, and the first real surprise arrives with the external auditor. Run as a rehearsal, the person finding a gap is not blamed for it.
Two conditions make that work: findings are written against the process rather than the person, and the same person does not audit their own area every time. On a small farm the second condition is hard, which is why neighbouring farms swap audit days.
Building the Audit Calendar From the Standard
Take the control points of the standard and spread them across the year so each area is audited at least once before the external visit, and the highest-risk areas twice. Frequency follows risk: water and pack house hygiene carry the most weight in a hydroponic operation and are audited more often than storage or training records.
| Area | Frequency | Sample | Evidence produced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water and nutrient solution | Monthly | Source test, treatment log, recirculation | Lab report, dated log |
| Wash water and sanitation | Monthly | Concentration, contact time, limits | Meter readings, corrective log |
| Pack house | Monthly | Hygiene, temperature, labels, trace code | Checklist, batch reconciliation |
| Crop and inputs | Quarterly | Input inventory, application records | Stock list, feed records |
| Records and traceability | Quarterly | One batch traced forward and back | Timed trace exercise |
| Training and SOPs | Every six months | Sign-offs against current versions | Training matrix, version list |
| Site and pest control | Quarterly | Bait stations, bird and rodent proofing | Maps, service records |
Weighting matters more than coverage. Water and sanitation carry most of the food safety risk in a hydroponic operation, so they are audited monthly even where the standard asks for an annual check. The certification path for hydroponic farms sets the sequence of approvals, and the calendar should follow it.
An Internal Audit Checklist Farm Teams Run, by Area
A checklist is a set of questions with a place for the answer, the evidence and the follow-up. Four areas cover most of the external walk.
- Water: source and treatment records, solution test frequency, recirculation disinfection, and dated corrective entries for out-of-range results.
- Pack house: hand wash facilities, sanitiser make-up, temperature logs, label accuracy, glass and blade control, trace code on a packed unit.
- Records: one batch traced from plug to despatch and back, with the time the exercise took.
- Crop area: input storage and labelling, application records, pest monitoring, structure and screens.
Written procedures keep the checklist short, because the audit asks whether the documented step was followed rather than whether a standard was remembered. Farms with weak documentation audit opinions; farms with good standard operating procedures audit facts. The first two documents worth having in place are the wash water monitoring and control limits and the batch record set in the traceability guidance.
Finding Classes: Major, Minor, Observation
Classing findings consistently is what turns an audit into a plan. Three classes are enough, each with its own closure expectation.
| Class | Definition | Closure expectation |
|---|---|---|
| Major | A required control is absent or fails, or records cannot show control | Immediate action, closed with evidence before certification |
| Minor | Control exists but is applied inconsistently, or records are incomplete | Plan with a date, closed within one to three months |
| Observation | Acceptable practice that is fragile | Noted, reviewed at the next audit |
The test for a major is simple: if the external auditor saw this today, would certification be withheld? Missing water test records, no sanitiser checks, and a trace exercise that cannot be completed are the three that most often land in that class.
A finding is only closed when evidence exists, not when a fix has been promised.
Promises are the currency of a failing programme. A corrective action that says “staff will be retrained” is not closed by the intention; it is closed by a dated sign-off sheet, a photograph of the corrected state, and a later check showing the practice held. Write the closure evidence into the finding when it is raised, not after the work is done, and the programme stops producing open items that never close.
Closing Findings With Evidence
Every finding needs four entries: what was found, what was done, when, and what proves it. Naming the proof up front prevents the argument later.
- Record gaps: the completed log for the missing period plus a dated entry showing the new habit.
- Equipment faults: photographs before and after, plus the invoice or work order.
- Practice changes: an amended procedure with its version number and sign-off against it.
- Recurrence: a root-cause note, since a repeat means the last fix treated a symptom.
Recurrence is the signal a programme is decorative. Count repeats across two audits; a second occurrence of the same minor is usually a major waiting to be found.
Training an Internal Auditor
An internal auditor needs three things: familiarity with the standard, permission to ask awkward questions, and the discipline to write what was seen rather than what was said. Most farms pick the quality manager, which works until that person audits their own work.
Training takes a day of clause reading plus a shadow audit with someone experienced. After that the skill is kept by volume: six short audits a year teach more than one long one. Where no second competent person exists, a neighbouring farm or the certification body’s training day covers the gap.
The Month Before Certification
The final month is for verification, not discovery. Anything found in the last two weeks is unlikely to be closed with evidence, and last-minute gaps are what turn a routine visit into a corrective action plan.
- Confirm scope: crops, sites and pack houses on the certificate, including any area added during the year.
- Close or reclassify: every major closed with evidence; every minor with a date inside the certification window.
- Run one full trace exercise: forward and backward, timed, with the result written down.
- Walk the auditor’s route: entrance, hand wash, pack house, crop area, chemical store, water treatment, records.
- Brief the crew: who accompanies the auditor, who answers which question, where records live.
- Check the basics: first aid, signage, bait maps and the rodent and bird control records.
Walk the route twice with the internal audit checklist farm teams use, once alone and once with someone who has not been in the pack house that week. Fresh eyes find the unlabelled bottle and the broken door closer: cheap to fix, expensive to be caught with. The HACCP and GAP audit walk-through covers what the external auditor asks on the day.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should internal audits run before certification?
A: At least one full cycle across every area, with water and the pack house audited monthly. High-risk areas are worth auditing twice before the visit.
Who should run the internal audit?
A: Someone who knows the standard and does not audit their own area. On small farms, swapping a day with a neighbouring farm solves independence.
What makes a finding major rather than minor?
A: Whether certification would be withheld if the external auditor saw it. Missing water tests or an incomplete traceability exercise are typical majors.
What counts as evidence that a finding is closed?
A: Dated records, photographs of the corrected state, an amended procedure with its version number, or a training sign-off against that version.
What should happen in the final month before the audit?
A: Verification only. Close every major with evidence, run a timed trace exercise, walk the auditor’s route and brief the crew.
Get the Internal Audit Calendar Template
Build the calendar from the standard, audit water and the pack house most often, and close findings with evidence rather than intention. An internal audit checklist farm crews can run without a consultant is cheap insurance on a certification date. To ask for our internal audit calendar template mapped to GlobalG.A.P. control points, send the standard you are certifying against and the audit month.
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