NSF wins best product award for workforce competence assessment service

NSF International won the ‘Best Product’ category award for its NSF Insight service at the 2012 Annual Society of Food Hygiene & Technology (SOFHT) Awards held at the Savoy Hotel in London on 22 November 2012.

The NSF Insight service, which was developed by NSF’s Global Food Safety Division in partnership with Cognisco, enables employers within the food industry to evaluate workforce competence and gain a complete insight into anticipated performance.

It features a number of online personnel assessments that determine employee trainee needs, knowledge gaps and areas of misunderstanding, which could affect safety standards or put the business at risk.

These assessments increase the confidence of employees and offer measurable tools for improvement, which in turn advance consumer safety and provide greater protection to the business.

The NSF Insight service allows managers and supervisors within the food industry to develop a culture of continuous food safety.

Cognisco CEO Mary Clarke said that consumer food safety can be improved by raising the competence and confidence of employees and developing a culture of food safety.

"The award win is testament to our innovative approach to assessing employee competence in all areas of food safety management," Clarke added.

Insight has been launched in the UK, Europe and the US, and its customers include the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA), the department responsible for food safety in the UK.

The FSA appointed NSF to offer one-to-one food safety coaching for 2,000 businesses across 32 local authorities involved in Olympics activities this summer.

Established in 1979, SOFHT is an independent body which offers solutions for food hygiene and technology issues, and its members include food manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers or wholesalers, among others.

NSF International writes standards, and tests and certifies products for the food, water and consumer goods industries, while Cognisco is a global provider of risk management solutions.

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Image: Left to right – SOFHT Awards judging panel chair Chris Turner, SOFHT chair Catherine Watkinson, Cognisco principal consultant Amanda Green and NSF Retail Services managing director Mike Wilson at the function. Photo courtesy of NSF International.