SFBB Sections & Safe Methods

SFBB What to Do If Things Go Wrong: Corrective Action Procedures

How to Document Corrective Actions in SFBB When Food Safety Controls Fail

Every section of the SFBB pack ends with a "What to Do If Things Go Wrong" box. These corrective action procedures are among the most overlooked parts of SFBB, yet they are exactly what EHOs look for when assessing whether you can manage food safety under pressure. Corrective actions describe what you do when your normal controls fail: a fridge breaks down, a delivery arrives at the wrong temperature, a member of staff handles raw chicken then touches ready-to-eat food, or cooked food does not reach the required core temperature. Documenting clear corrective actions and recording when you use them is what separates a reactive business from a well-managed one.

Key takeaways

Every SFBB safe method has a "What to Do If Things Go Wrong" box that must be completed with your specific corrective action procedures.

Temperature failures, cross-contamination incidents, and cleaning lapses all require predetermined responses that prioritise food safety.

When in doubt, discard food rather than risk serving something unsafe - this is always the correct corrective action.

Record every corrective action with the date, what happened, what you did, and what you changed to prevent recurrence.

The absence of corrective action records is itself a red flag - every busy kitchen encounters problems, and EHOs expect to see how you handle them.

What SFBB Corrective Actions Are and Why They Matter

In HACCP terminology, a corrective action is the predetermined step you take when monitoring shows that a critical control point is not under control. SFBB translates this concept into practical language: "What to Do If Things Go Wrong." Each safe method in the four Cs sections has an associated corrective action box. The cross-contamination section asks what you do if raw food contacts ready-to-eat food. The chilling section asks what you do if a fridge is too warm. The cooking section asks what you do if food does not reach 75C. The cleaning section asks what you do if a surface has not been properly cleaned. These are not hypothetical scenarios. Every busy kitchen encounters these situations. What matters to the EHO is not that things go wrong (they expect that), but that you have a plan for when they do and that you follow it. Writing clear corrective actions shows that you have thought through failure scenarios and know how to respond safely. This forward thinking is at the heart of the confidence in management score. Blank corrective action boxes tell the EHO that you have not planned for failures, which implies your food safety system only works when everything goes perfectly.

Corrective Actions for Temperature Failures

Temperature-related corrective actions are the most common and the most important. For fridge failure, write: check the temperature reading, check the door seal and that the door has not been left open, if the temperature is above 8C assess how long it has been elevated (check previous records), move high-risk foods to a working unit immediately, if food has been above 8C for more than 4 hours and the duration cannot be verified then discard it, arrange a repair, and record everything in the diary with the time, temperature, action taken, and food affected. For cooking failures (food not reaching 75C), write: return the food to cooking for additional time, re-probe after the additional cooking period, if the food still does not reach temperature after a second attempt then discard it, investigate why (underpowered equipment, frozen centre, item too thick), and record the incident. For delivery temperature failures: reject the delivery, photograph the temperature reading, contact the supplier, record the rejection in your diary with the supplier name, temperature reading, and action taken. For hot holding failures (food below 63C): check how long the food has been below temperature, apply the 2-hour rule, discard food that has exceeded the time limit, check the equipment, and record the incident. Each corrective action should end with a note about investigating the root cause to prevent recurrence.

Corrective Actions for Cross-Contamination and Cleaning Failures

Cross-contamination corrective actions should cover the most likely scenarios in your kitchen. If raw meat or its juices contact ready-to-eat food: discard the contaminated ready-to-eat food (it cannot be made safe), clean and disinfect the affected area, identify how the contact occurred, and take steps to prevent it happening again (rearrange storage, retrain staff, add physical barriers). If a staff member handles raw food then touches ready-to-eat food without washing hands: discard the potentially contaminated ready-to-eat food, have the staff member wash hands immediately, use the incident as a training opportunity, and record it. If an allergen cross-contact is suspected: do not serve the affected food, prepare a fresh dish with clean equipment in a clean area, investigate how the cross-contact occurred, and record the incident. For cleaning failures, if a food contact surface has not been properly cleaned and food has been prepared on it: assess the risk (what food was prepared, what contamination might be present), discard food if there is any doubt about safety, clean and disinfect the surface properly before further use, and review why the scheduled cleaning was missed. Each corrective action should be proportionate to the risk. Not every issue requires food to be discarded, but when there is any doubt about food safety, disposal is always the correct action.

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Recording Corrective Actions and Learning From Them

When a corrective action is taken, record it in your SFBB diary with the date and time, what went wrong (be specific), what action was taken, who took the action, what food was affected (and whether it was discarded), and what you did to prevent it happening again. This record serves two purposes. First, it provides evidence to the EHO that your corrective action procedures are active and being followed. Second, it creates a history that helps you identify patterns. If your fridge temperatures spike every Friday afternoon, that points to a specific problem (heavy delivery day, door being propped open during unloading). If cross-contamination near-misses keep happening in the same area, your layout might need rethinking. EHOs are far more impressed by a business that records incidents and learns from them than by a business with a perfect record that suggests issues are being hidden or ignored. Every well-run kitchen has corrective action records because every kitchen encounters problems. The absence of any corrective action records over a long period is itself a concern - it suggests either problems are not being identified, or they are being identified but not documented. Review corrective action records monthly to spot trends and make systemic improvements.

What to do next

Complete every corrective action box in your SFBB safe methods

Go through each safe method and write what you would do if that specific control failed. Be specific about thresholds (when to discard food, when to call an engineer, when to close a work area) and who has authority to make those decisions.

Create a corrective action log in your diary section

Add a dedicated section or page in your diary for recording incidents. Include fields for date, time, what went wrong, action taken, food affected, and preventive measures. Train all supervisory staff to complete it when incidents occur.

Review corrective action records monthly and address recurring issues

At each monthly review, look for patterns in your corrective action records. Repeated fridge issues, recurring cross-contamination near-misses, or consistent cleaning failures point to systemic problems that need structural solutions, not just one-off responses.

Common mistakes to avoid

Mistake

Leaving the corrective action boxes blank because "things do not go wrong"

Instead

Every kitchen has incidents. Blank corrective action boxes tell the EHO you have not planned for failure scenarios. Complete them with specific, realistic responses for each safe method.

Mistake

Taking corrective action but not recording it in the diary

Instead

An unrecorded corrective action might as well not have happened from an EHO perspective. Get into the habit of documenting every incident and response. These records actually improve your confidence in management score by showing proactive food safety management.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as a corrective action in SFBB?

A corrective action is any step you take when a food safety control fails. This includes discarding food that has been temperature-abused, cleaning and disinfecting after a cross-contamination incident, retraining a staff member who did not follow a safe method, arranging emergency equipment repair, or adjusting your procedures to prevent recurrence. The key is that the action addresses both the immediate risk and the underlying cause.

Do I have to record every minor incident?

Record any incident where food safety was or could have been compromised. You do not need to record every tiny deviation, but err on the side of recording. A pattern of minor incidents can reveal a systemic issue. EHOs respect businesses that document transparently rather than hiding problems.

What if I take a corrective action but the same problem keeps happening?

Recurring problems require a root cause investigation rather than repeated corrective actions. If your fridge keeps failing, the corrective action is not just moving food - it is replacing the fridge or reviewing its workload. Document the pattern in your records and the systemic change you made to address it. EHOs look for evidence that you learn from incidents.

Should corrective actions be discussed with staff?

Yes. When an incident occurs and a corrective action is taken, brief the team on what happened, what was done, and how to prevent it in future. This turns incidents into learning opportunities and demonstrates the training culture that EHOs look for in the management section. Note the staff briefing in your corrective action record.

SFBB Sections & Safe Methods