Auditor Profile

With fewer than three years under his belt as an AIB Food Safety Auditor, it might seem that Tim Creech is just starting out on his career path, but Tim is no rookie to the industry. In the last 18 years, he has worked in a variety of management positions in several companies. Tim graduated from North Carolina State University in 1991 with what might seem to be unlikely educational experience for beginning a career in the food industry. However, Tim says that his degree in business management with a concentration in marketing "provided the organizational and leadership skills needed to acquire a managerial position in the poultry industry."

He was hired by Perdue Farms directly out of college and entered their management trainee program. Since then his career included working for several companies in various management positions with responsibility for manufacturing, live production, quality assurance, and food safety. The variety of skills he learned prepared him to begin his next adventure as an AIB food safety auditor…and an exceptional one at that. He has seven different specialized criteria to add to his claim to fame, including:
 

• HACCP certification
• Advanced HACCP certification
• Serv-Safe certification
• SQF-certified practitioner
• Lead-assessor training
• GMP auditor
• BRC auditor

Even though Tim is a food industry veteran, he still continues to learn new things every day on the job. He recalls one of the lessons learned early in his career as an inspector. "During my initial training at AIB, I quickly learned how to inspect interior rodent monitoring devices such as the commonly used Victor Tin Cat. During one early inspection, I popped open a solid-top Tin Cat inside the facility and a mouse surprised me by almost jumping out. I was then shown that you should hold these devices up to the light to determine if a rodent is inside before opening the unit. This prevents the animal from escaping back into the facility and startling the unsuspecting inspector."

Tim spends most of his time traveling to a wide variety of food facilities providing GMP and GFSI audits. One of the most common mistakes that he sees a number of these facilities make is that of unlabeled containers in their facilities. Common unmarked containers include cleaning spray bottles, maintenance chemicals, grease guns, ingredients, and pesticide pump-up sprayers. Tim's advice for facilities to prevent these issues from occurring is to "review and update their chemical control program as it relates to labeling, handling, training and education, and/or contractor chemicals."

As most people working in the food industry would agree, it is a dynamic business. Tim says, "No one expects you to know everything, so don't be afraid to ask questions. There are many people at each company willing to share their knowledge and work experiences if you just ask."

The author is Publication Coordinator, AIB International.