Instructor Skills for the Food Industry

Denis has 25 years of experience working in various sectors of the Food Industry specialising in Food Safety / HACCP, Process Control, Legal Compliance and Auditing.  His main skill is removing the jargon and mystique attached to what is now considered the most important element of business continuity in the food industry, food safety.  Denis has worked with competent authorities both Irish and European, multinational food and beverage manufacturers plus Irish SME food business’.  He also has extensive experience working with Irish, UK and European retailers.

The manufacturer and retail of safe food requires investment in the three Ps; Premises, Plant & People.  The last of these – People – arguably the most important but perhaps least reliable if not trained well.  This is the key message that Denis focuses on in all training programmes he delivers regardless of the audience.  Food Safety must be taken out of the laboratory or technical department and brought down to factory floor level.  This can only be done with strong leadership and excellent communication skills where the concept of team and collective responsibility is fostered and rewarded.

Denis has a BSc Food Science & Technology, is a Registered Food Safety Auditor with IRCA (International Register of Certificated Auditors), an elected Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, an Associate Member of Chartered Quality Assurance and holds an NUI Certificate in Training & Continuing Education. Denis has worked at management level in a number of food industries and is one of Ireland’s leading experts on Food Safety and is constantly in demand by major food manufacturers and food retailers for his expertise in this area. He is a gifted trainer, expert at delivering complex information in plain English in language that is clearly understood, ensuring delegates leave his training programmes empowered with new knowledge and confident to implement.

Denis Kiely is a Qualified PCQI and a Qualified Lead Instructor in Preventive Controls for Human Food.

Edel has a B.Sc. (Hons), M.Applied Science (Food Science), Cert Training & Continuing Education, is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science & Technology (Ireland) and holds auditor qualifications from IRCA (International Register of Certified Auditors). She is an experienced Food Safety Professional with extensive knowledge and experience within various sectors of the food industry and has held significant positions in organisations such as the Institute of Food Science and Technology of Ireland where Edel is a fellow and past president. She is a licensed trainer with the Environmental Health Officers Association of Ireland and a member of the Food Safety Professional Association of Ireland.
Edel has a passion for training and enjoys the interaction with her learners over the duration of the training course. She gets to know her delegates not just the company they work for but who they are and what are their interests and challenges. Some of her delegates keep in touch with her well after the course is over and indeed some have become friends.

Edel remembers one delegate in particular on an ‘Instructors Skill course’ where on the first day he had a baseball cap on nearly covering his whole face and was so fearful he could hardly introduce himself. On Day 2 he was delivering a 10-minute presentation to the whole group.
On his linked in profile he stated that the confidence, respect and skill he got on Edel’s course helped him so much that in work he had been promoted from a production operative to a production supervisor.

Edel has strong interpersonal and communication skills and people both within her professional sphere and in her personal life feel at ease with her and many problems have been discussed and shared over the years.

A Food Safety Adviser with over 10 years’ experience working in Technical/ Quality management roles, implementing food safety standards and providing training & mentoring services across a broad spectrum of industries – including dairy and meat (slaughtering, boning and further processing).

Auditing experience includes implementation of a tailored supplier auditing program including supplier risk assessment & KPI scoring system; supplier auditing, BRC Food; Storage & Distribution & Agents & Brokers Standard V3 preparatory audits & gap analysis and internal auditing in line with customer standards. Joan has a Certificate in Training and Continuing Education from NUI Maynooth