Glossary
Training compliance glossary
Plain-English definitions of the training and food-safety terms that come up in audits — written to be clear, accurate, and vendor-neutral.
- Training matrix
- A grid that maps every employee against every course or competency they need, with each cell showing training status — complete, due, overdue, or expired. It gives a team an at-a-glance view of who is qualified to do what.
- Competency
- The demonstrated ability to perform a task to a required standard, combining knowledge, skill, and experience. Food-safety standards expect training records to show competency, not just attendance.
- Recurring training
- Training that must be repeated on a fixed interval — for example annual food-safety refreshers or three-year forklift recertification. Software tracks recurrence by spawning the next due date automatically when a completion is recorded.
- Certificate expiry
- The date a training certificate stops being valid. Expiry is calculated from the completion date plus the certificate's validity period; once passed, the employee is no longer compliant for that requirement until they renew.
- Toolbox talk
- A short, informal safety or quality briefing delivered on the floor, often weekly, on a single focused topic. Toolbox talks are training events that should be documented with a date, topic, and attendee list.
- SQF— Safe Quality Food
- A GFSI-recognized food-safety certification program. SQF requires documented training programs, competency records, and evidence that staff are trained for their roles and retrained on a defined schedule.
- BRCGS— Brand Reputation Compliance Global Standards
- A family of GFSI-recognized global standards (including Food Safety) widely required by retailers. BRCGS expects a documented training program, records of induction and ongoing training, and reviews of staff competency.
- GMP— Good Manufacturing Practice
- The baseline practices and conditions required to produce safe food, drugs, or supplements consistently. GMP requires that personnel are trained in hygiene and their specific duties, with records to prove it.
- HACCP— Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
- A systematic approach to food safety that identifies hazards and controls them at critical points. HACCP requires that the team and the staff operating critical control points are trained, with training records maintained.
- GFSI— Global Food Safety Initiative
- An industry body that benchmarks food-safety standards. When a scheme is 'GFSI-recognized' (SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000), certification to it is broadly accepted by major retailers and manufacturers.
- Compliance rate
- The share of required training that is currently valid across a workforce — completed and not expired — expressed as a percentage. It is the single headline metric most training dashboards track.
- Overdue training
- A required course whose due date has passed without a recorded completion. Overdue items are the core of an audit finding, which is why software surfaces and escalates them automatically.
- Training needs analysis— TNA
- The process of determining which courses each role or person must complete. A TNA defines the columns of a training matrix — the requirements every employee is measured against.
- Refresher training
- A repeat of previously completed training to maintain competency and satisfy recurrence requirements. Refreshers are usually shorter than the initial course but generate a fresh completion record and due date.
- Induction (onboarding) training
- The training a new hire must complete before or shortly after starting — typically hygiene, safety, and role basics. Standards expect induction to be documented and completed before an employee works unsupervised.
- Audit trail
- An append-only history of who changed what and when. For training records, a tamper-evident audit trail is what lets an auditor trust that a completion date wasn't edited after the fact.
- Corrective action (CAPA)
- The documented action taken to fix a nonconformance and prevent its recurrence. Missed or expired training is a common trigger for a corrective action during an audit.
- Nonconformance
- A failure to meet a requirement of a standard, procedure, or specification. In a training context, a lapsed certification or an undocumented completion is a typical nonconformance.
- SOP— Standard Operating Procedure
- A written, step-by-step instruction for performing a task consistently. Training is frequently tied to SOPs: staff are trained on the SOP, and the record links the person to the procedure version.
- WHMIS— Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System
- Canada's system for communicating hazards of workplace chemicals through labels, safety data sheets, and worker training. WHMIS training is typically required annually and tracked as a recurring course.
- Allergen training
- Training on identifying, handling, and preventing cross-contact of food allergens. It is a required, auditable competency in most food-safety schemes and is often refreshed annually.
- Attendance record (sign-in sheet)
- The signed evidence that named individuals attended a training session on a given date. Attaching the sign-in sheet to the training record is how group sessions like toolbox talks are proven on audit day.
- Role-based training
- Assigning required courses by job role rather than to individuals one by one, so every person in a role inherits the same training requirements. It keeps the training matrix consistent as people join or change roles.
- Location scope
- Restricting a supervisor's or manager's view and actions to the sites they are responsible for. Location scoping lets a multi-site organization give each site owner their own training data without exposing the whole company.