FDA offers free online training for carriers

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced availability of a free one-hour training module to help carriers meet the training requirements of the sanitary transportation rule. The training module can be launched online or downloaded at https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm576097.htm.

The awareness training requirement outlined in Section 1.910 of the rule applies when the carrier and shipper have agreed in a written contract that the carrier is responsible, in whole or in part, for the sanitary conditions during transportation. Note also that under the rule, a freight broker is considered a shipper, so the requirement applies in written contracts between carriers and brokers as well.

While carriers are required to provide training to personnel in those circumstances, they do not have to use the free FDA module. FDA says that carriers may:

• Offer this module to their operations personnel as a means of satisfying the minimum requirements;

• Use this module to complement or enhance training they currently offer;

• Train their personnel using their own training programs; or

• Provide training obtained from a third-party vendor or other provider

Course description The FDA course is designed to provide basic food safety training to transportation operations personnel, but it does not describe specific operating procedures and practices. The goal is to complement industry best practices. The FDA training module will help personnel:

• Recognize their responsibilities under the rule;

• Identify potential food safety problems that may occur during food transportation; and

• Describe common ways to prevent food safety problems

Delivery options

Depending on your capabilities and preferences, there are two ways your personnel can complete FDA's Sanitary Transportation Rule training module:

1. Carrier personnel can take the course online from the FDA website. At the conclusion of the online module, they can print a certificate of completion. To ensure that the certificate prints properly participants should enter their names as they want them to appear in the designated areas of the training. They can follow the instructions at the end of the training to print their certificate.

2. Companies that maintain their own SCORM-compliant Learning Management System (LMS) can download the course files and import them into the LMS. One advantage of this method is that the LMS automatically tracks completion data to satisfy the documentation requirements of Under Section 1.912(c).

System requirements for viewing the online module on computers and mobile devices and instructions for LMS administrators are available on the FDA website.