Understand corrective actions in FoodSafety HQ: what triggers them, how to resolve and document each one, and how they build a complete audit trail.
What is a corrective action? A corrective action is the documented response to a failed check. When something goes wrong — a fridge drifts out of its safe range, a cleaning task fails, or a delivery item is rejected — FoodSafety HQ automatically raises a corrective action that stays open until someone records what was done to fix it. This is a core part of good food safety practice. It is not enough to spot a problem; you have to show that you responded to it. Corrective actions capture that response, who made it, and when, so your paperwork tells the full story if a council officer ever asks. Why it matters: The temperature danger zone is 5°C to 60°C, where harmful bacteria multiply fastest. A reading inside that zone is exactly the kind of event a corrective action is designed to record and close out. Open corrective actions are listed with the check that triggered each one. What triggers a corrective action Corrective actions are created automatically, so nothing slips through. One is raised whenever: A temperature check records a reading outside the configured safe limits. A cleaning check item is marked as failed. A delivery check step is marked as failed, for example a chilled item that arrived too warm. Because the system creates these entries for you, your team can focus on fixing the problem rather than remembering to log it. How to resolve a corrective action Open Corrective Actions from the sidebar. Find the open action — each one shows the failed check type, the venue, and a short description. Click Resolve . Describe the action you took in plain, specific terms, for example: "Adjusted fridge thermostat; temperature returned to 4°C after 20 minutes and stock was checked." Submit. The action is marked resolved with a timestamp and your name attached. Writing a good resolution note Say what you actually did, not just that it is "fixed". Include any follow-up, such as discarding at-risk stock or moving product to another unit. Note the outcome, like the temperature the unit returned to, so the record stands on its own. The audit trail Every corrective action is linked back to the exact log entry that triggered it. Together they form a complete, timestamped audit trail — the failed reading, the response, and the person responsible — ready for a health inspector to review during audits . Dashboard visibility Open corrective actions appear on your dashboard as part of your operational stats, and the number of open actions is one of the key metrics tracked. Keeping that count low is a simple sign your venue is on top of issues as they arise. Next steps See the full corrective actions features in FoodSafety HQ. Understand where alerts surface in the dashboard . Questions about setting your check limits? Contact our team .