HACCP resource
A corrective action log documents what went wrong, why it happened, and what was done to bring the process back under control. It's a legal requirement under HACCP and one of the first records an inspector will ask to see.
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Specific enough that someone unfamiliar with the incident can read the entry and understand what happened.
Root cause and immediate action are different things — the log records both separately.
Verification sign-off turns an entry into closed audit evidence, not just an open note.
Deviation description
Date, time, which CCP or monitoring point was out of limits, the actual reading, and who found it. 'Temperature problem' isn't a useful entry. It needs to be specific.
Immediate action field
What was done with the affected product right away — held, destroyed, reworked, returned. Separate from the root cause column because they're two different decisions.
Root cause entry
Why did the limit get breached? A faulty door seal, a missed monitoring task, a process change nobody communicated. The answer here is what prevents it happening again.
Verification sign-off
Who confirmed the action was effective and that the process is back under control. Without this column, the log shows problems were found but not that they were actually resolved.
When an inspector picks up this log, they shouldn't need to ask anyone what happened. The date, the CCP, the actual reading, who found it — all of that needs to be in the entry. Vague notes like 'fridge warm, sorted' don't hold up.
Disposing of or recooking product deals with the immediate risk. Identifying that a fridge door seal was worn, or that Monday mornings have a pattern of missed checks, deals with the cause. A good log has space for both, and teams fill in both.
A corrective action isn't complete until someone confirms it worked — that normal process control is restored and the issue won't recur. That sign-off is what closes the entry. Logs without it tend to accumulate open-ended entries that look unresolved in audit.
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