Environmental Monitoring - live online, tutor-led training course (two mornings)

Hygiene and environmental monitoring are essential verification activities within an effective food safety management system. Whether monitoring microbiological risks, assessing cleaning effectiveness or identifying potential sources of contamination within the manufacturing environment, a well-designed programme is critical to ensuring product safety. This highly interactive online course provides practical guidance from experienced tutors, with case studies, data interpretation and group exercises.

By attending this course, delegates will: 

• Gain a practical understanding of the principles of environmental monitoring and its role in protecting product safety and quality.
• Learn how to develop, implement and maintain a risk-based Environmental Monitoring Programme (EMP)
• Learn how environmental monitoring can be used to verify cleaning and hygiene controls and support food safety management systems.
• Strengthen your capability to review, audit and challenge existing environmental monitoring programmes.
• Support compliance with certification and regulatory expectations relating to environmental monitoring and contamination control.

The course will be delivered live online over the course of two mornings (0900 - 1300 hours), participants will be sent login details for a Microsoft Teams session.

This course has been certificated by the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH).  Delegates have the opportunity to achieve the RSPH Level 3 Award in Environmental Monitoring Plans for Food Manufacturing.

• Reasons for sampling the environment; sources and vectors of contamination barriers
• Microorganisms to consider; area of site to consider; pinch points when sampling.
• Microbiological risk assessment; confidence in sampling site selection; relationship between EMP and cleaning schedule. 
• Tools and best practices for sampling; air sampling (ambient and compressed); production zoning. 
• Interpretation of results, managing positive results; action plans; vector swabbing.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, delegates will be able to:

• Effectively review and audit environmental monitoring programmes. 
• Design and implement appropriate sampling strategies, considering pinch points, sampling methods, and barriers to contamination.
• Effectively set up and monitoring plan by using risk assessments. 
• Set acceptable limits for monitoring results. 
• Analyze and interpret the results of environmental monitoring, understanding what the data indicates about the safety of the processing environment. 
• Understand what action to take in the event of positive results. 

Optional - Delegates will have the option to register for the online invigilated RSPH Level 3 Award in Environmental Monitoring Plans for Food Manufacturing examination which is available to take between the 17 - 23rd December 2026 (exam can be sat anytime during this period between the hours of 0900 - 1700).