EthicalHub

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The two-hour client verification visit: what to check

A repeatable plan for routine client visits: what to review before you arrive, where to spend your time on site, and what to leave behind.

4 min read
The short answer

Do the record review before you arrive, so the visit is spent where only you can add value: on the floor, with the people doing the work. A routine visit fits in two hours: 15 minutes with the site lead, 45 on the floor, 30 on a sample of records, 15 with staff, and 15 to agree actions. Leave a dated summary every time. It’s the client’s evidence of verification at their next audit.

Before you arrive

The 20-minute pre-visit review

Most of what used to take an hour on site can be checked from your desk the day before, if the client keeps records you can see. Look for:

  • CCP readings outside limits since your last visit, and whether each has a corrective action.
  • Missed or late checks: gaps in monitoring, cleaning or temperature records.
  • Corrective actions that are open or overdue.
  • Supplier certificates, calibration and training that expire in the next 60 days.
  • Anything that changed: new products, equipment, suppliers or key staff.

Write down the three things you most want to see on the floor. That list sets the visit.

On site

Two hours, start to finish

Our suggested running order for a routine visit. Go while production is running.

0:00–0:15

Catch up with the site lead

What’s changed, what’s worrying them, and any upcoming audit or customer visit. Share your three focus points from the pre-visit review.

0:15–1:00

Walk the floor

Follow the product from goods-in to dispatch. Check your focus points first, then hygiene, allergen separation, pest control, temperature control and how CCP checks are actually done.

1:00–1:30

Sample the records

Pick two random days and follow them through: CCP records, cleaning, receiving, verification sign-off. Compare what’s on paper or screen with what you just saw on the floor.

1:30–1:45

Talk to the people doing the work

Ask an operator what their CCP limit is and what they do if it’s missed. Ask a new starter where they’d find a procedure. Their answers show whether training stuck.

1:45–2:00

Agree actions before you leave

Go through findings with the site lead. Each one gets an owner and a due date, agreed on the spot rather than sent in an email two days later.

What to leave behind

The visit summary

One page, dated, sent the same day. Auditors look for evidence that the system is verified, and this is it.

What you checked

Areas walked, records sampled and the dates covered, so the scope of your verification is clear.

What you found

Each finding, graded, with where you saw it. Note what’s working too; it helps the client keep it going.

What happens next

Actions with owners and due dates, open items carried over, and what you’ll check on the next visit.

Common traps

Where visits lose their value

  • Spending the visit in the office. An hour of reading folders on site is an hour not spent on the floor.
  • Fixing things yourself. Filling in missing records or rewriting a procedure on the spot makes you the record-keeper. The client owns their system.
  • Same visit for every client. A stable client and one with an audit next month need different visits. See how to tier clients by risk.
  • No written summary. If it isn’t written down, the client can’t show the auditor it was verified, and you can’t show the client what they paid for.
Where EthicalHub fits

Do the pre-visit review from your desk

The EthicalHub Consultant Dashboard shows every client’s readiness score, open corrective actions and expiring certificates on one screen, so the pre-visit review takes minutes. After the visit, export a dated report with your name and your client’s in about a minute. The dashboard is free for consultants; your clients subscribe on their own plan, from $69 a month per site.

Get the free Consultant Dashboard

Invite your first client with one link and review their records before your next visit.

Join free

Related guides

Managing HACCP records across 20 clients →Standardise, tier, review exceptions, sign off. Turning projects into retainers →Package verification visits as a monthly service. Remote audit prep →Client evidence before the auditor arrives. Mock audit in one afternoon →When a routine visit isn’t enough.
Questions

Client visits: common questions

What should a food safety consultant check on a client visit?
Start with what changed since the last visit, then walk the floor while production runs, sample records from random days, check open corrective actions and expiring certificates, and talk to the people doing the work. Finish with a short written summary of what you found and what’s due before your next visit.
How often should a consultant visit a client site?
Base it on risk, not habit. Clients with an audit coming up, an open major finding or high-risk products need more frequent contact; stable clients can move to monthly or quarterly visits with remote review in between.
How long should a client verification visit take?
Two hours is enough for a routine visit at most small and medium sites if you prepare beforehand. Audit preparation, new clients and sites with open major findings need longer.
What should a consultant leave after a site visit?
A dated summary: what you checked, what you found, the actions agreed with owners and due dates, and what you’ll check next time. It becomes evidence of verification for the client’s next audit.

Less time in folders. More on the floor.

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