Using Blue Notes and Exceptions

A Blue Note or Exception is a note you can add to a form when something unexpected happens

You can use Blue Notes and Exceptions when filling in a form, this is to add an additional note to your form to explain what happened that was out of the ordinary. Set up notifications so you are notified when a Blue Note is added or set a follow-up action to your Blue Note to create an action for a particular staff member to close the corrective action loop. 

In the Article

Adding a Blue Note or Exception

A Blue Note or Exception can be added to a form at any time, this is done when something out of the ordinary has happened or you want to make note of something. 

To add a standard Blue Note: 

  1. Open the form on the App 
  2. Click the Blue Note icon in the bottom left corner

Make sure you fill in some of the form before saving the Blue Note, you can't just add a Blue Note to a form without any completed questions. 

You can also add a Blue Note by adding the Reason in a Y/N + Reason or N/Y + Reason answer type, or get automatically prompted to add a blue note when you've exceeded the boundary limits in your temperature check forms. 

Reason Blue Notes 

If your form uses the Reason answer types, then when a reason is added this is seen as a Blue Note. 

  • N/Y + Reason | When the answer is YES then you are forced to add a Reason explaining why. This Reason is displayed as a Blue Note 
  • Y/N + Reason | When the answer is NO then you are forced to add a Reason explaining why. This Reason is displayed as a Blue Note 

Exceeded Boundary Limit Blue Note

If your form uses numeric limits & boundaries, then when the answer added is out of the required limits you will be prompted to add a Blue Note to explain why. You will most commonly see this example in your Temperature Check forms e.g. if your temperature boundary limit is set for your fridges between 2 & 5 degrees and you enter 8 degrees, you will get prompted to add a blue note explaining why. 

Adding a Blue Note to a Question

You can add a Blue Note or Action to multiple different answer types. Just click the three dots in the yellow icon from within your form. 

Once you've added the Blue Note, it will work the same as all other Notes or Exceptions, it will be displayed in all reports pages as a Blue Note next to the related answer. 

Viewing a Blue Note or Exception

Once a Blue Note has been added to a form, you can spot these in a few different ways. It's best to stay on top of these as they can be an outlet for your staff to reach out to let you know something out of the ordinary is happening. It's best to get on top of these to solve them straight away. 

In the App 

You can easily spot scheduled forms with Blue Notes added to the as they show the Blue Note icon on them & the top right corner of the form will show Blue. 

If you add a Blue Note to an Ad Hoc form or you just want to see all Blue Notes or Exceptions added that day, you can click the Blue Note icon at the top of your Daily Diary screen.

Activity Stream 

When you login to the Admin Console and look at your Dashboard, you can monitor any Blue Notes or Exceptions added from here. Keep an eye out for the Blue Note icon, or filter the activity stream by Blue Notes so you can check in on all of them. 

Reports 

View the Blue Notes in your Reports whether it's a Completed Form, Form Report or a Completed Calendar Report. You can even get a report of all of your Blue Notes or Exceptions on the Summary Reports page. 

Blue Note Notifications

Get an email or push notification as soon as a Blue Note or Exception has been added. This can be set up for any Safe Food Pro user (a staff member with a login) in the User Notifications section. 

To do this: 

  1. Login to the Admin Console (Web Browser) 
  2. Go to My Business
  3. Click Users
  4. Click the pencil icon next to your User 
  5. Scroll down to User Notifications 
  6. Tick the notifications you would like to receive

Want to learn more about User Notifications? Boy do we have the article for you...

Blue Note or Reason Snippets

Do you find your staff are constantly using the same reasons or Blue Note explanations? Or do you like to file your Exceptions and Blue Notes in a certain way? You can use Blue Note Snippets to give your staff a selection of pre-added answers to add as a Blue Note. 

This can save your Staff time instead of having to constantly write out the same explanation each time they add a Blue Note. It could also help you sort your reasons when it comes to reporting time. 

To add in a Blue Notes Snippet: 

  1. Login to the Admin Console (Web Browser) 
  2. Go to Resources 
  3. Click the tab at the top labelled Fault Reasons/Corrective Actions 
  4. Click the green plus button 
  5. Add a Code and Description 
  6. Select the Form Type that exception relates to (Blue Notes and Exceptions would vary a lot depending on the form type, this way you can only display the Blue Notes relevant to the type of Form you are completing) 
  7. Select a Category 

Once these have been added you will be able to add them as a Blue Note on the app, simply click the Insert a code/text snippet button when adding a Blue Note or Exception and select from the list that appears. 

Using Follow-Up Actions to support Blue Notes

When adding a Blue Note or Exception you may see the option to add a Follow-Up Action. You can use a Follow-Up Action on our App when you are using adding a Blue Note or Observation that something is wrong. By adding a Blue Note, you are recording that something was not right, but that Blue Note may not be acted upon by anyone else. 

You can now create a traceable follow-up (corrective) action at the same time. Check out this article for a broken down example on how you may use the Follow-Up Actions.

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