The success of your production process and cannabis product quality relies heavily on a competent and well-informed workforce. Cannabis worker training for safety, quality control, and regulatory compliance can begin with SOPs and current GMPs. Most cannabis edible manufacturers find their employees need more robust training on food safety for employees to excel in their processing and QA/QC roles.
HR departments are tasked with implementing effective onboarding activities that optimize employee success. Onboarding is more than just completing paperwork and orientation sessions. A well-designed onboarding program ensures that the new manufacturing hire is introduced to the company safety and quality culture, understands protocols, can perform SOPs and possesses knowledge required for their role whether it is in sanitation, processing, environmental monitoring, supply chain verification, labeling, packaging, or transportation.
By investing time and resources in onboarding, HR professionals can help employees seamlessly transition into the organization and contribute effectively from day one. Key elements of an effective onboarding training for cannabis processing employees include:
Compliance for the Safety of the Products and Customers
The cannabis edibles industry operates within a complex framework of quality assurance and safety standards depending upon the medical marijuana or adult use state regulation or federal hemp with state CBD regulations. The standard minimum for compliance training is a clear and relevant ways to train on current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs). Supervisors and above need training in Hazard and Risk Analysis with appropriate Preventive Controls with each program’s requisite record keeping.
Employee safety
Employee safety per OSHA, use of PPE (Personal Protection Equipment), hygiene GMPs, equipment handling, security measures, and hazardous material identification and reporting are a few of the priority topics for this type of training.
Standard Operating Procedures
Familiarizing new hires with the company’s SOPs is crucial for maintaining consistency and efficiency in operations. Consistent with their role, the new hire should receive training on their process area(s). Clear instruction with hands-on practice help employees understand their responsibilities and the behaviors that make their tasks and decision-making effective.
Finished Product and Cannabis Ingredient Knowledge
In addition to the cannabinoids in the gummy, candy, bakery item or beverage, employees are responsible for the safety of the source ingredients and the finished edible product. Employees must make decisions about hazards and risks throughout the supply chain. They must apply preventive controls appropriately.
Introducing ImEPIK’s Cannabis Edibles Safety Courses:
Your company can mitigate risk by starting new hires with a strong introduction to cannabis edibles safety and ensuring those responsible for edibles safety standards can perform their roles effectively with robust competency training.
Beginning with the Level I course, form a solid foundation of competence and confidence in the most current GMPs and practices unique to the cannabis industry. Delivered through an engaging online platform, Level I: GMPs and the Pyramid of Edible Safety, uses interactive modules, video, practice scenarios and assessments that foster active learning and knowledge retention.
Level II: The Edible Safety Plan, builds on the GMPs to cover hazard and risk analysis (HACCP) and further regulatory compliance on preventive controls. The emphasis is on creating and implementing effective and documented safety and quality programs specific to cannabis edibles production. The scenario work and cases take learners along cookie, chocolate, gummy and beverage production lines.
At all times practice and reflection is encouraged as learners can download the manual to refresh or review the material. With the practice scenarios learners assess and re-check their decisions and behaviors with best practices. The safety and wellbeing of consumers is modelled by the characters in all the courses.
For those aspiring to achieve professional positions on your safety team, ImEPIK’s PCQI training is the FDA standardized curriculum for the role of Preventive Controls Qualified Individual. The PCQI course features case studies and real-life scenarios balancing science, regulatory language and practice application.
In the rapidly evolving marijuana and CBD edibles industry, HR professionals play a crucial role in optimizing onboarding activities. By prioritizing cGMP compliance training, safety and quality control, SOP familiarization, and product knowledge, you can set up employees for success. As a comprehensive training solution, ImEPIK’s Cannabis Edibles Safety Courses equips onboarding employees with the knowledge and skills necessary to be committed and proficient in their roles.
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