How do you train staff on food safety?

Training Staff on Food Hygiene Regulations

What every caterer should know about staff supervision, instruction and food safety training regulations.

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Training Staff on Food Hygiene Regulations
What does the law say about Food Safety Regulations?
How to comply with legislation?
How are staff categorised?
What level of training is required?
What is Stage 1 - The Essentials of Food Hygiene?
What is Stage 2 - Hygiene Awareness Instruction?
What is Stage 3 - Formal Training?
What are the industry best practices?
Why use food hygiene training plans?
What is temperature control training?
Are there exceptions to temperature control?
Other Foster White Papers and related pages:
Other Foster Green Papers and related pages:
How can you practice food safety in the workplace?
What is training in food safety?
What are 4 ways to practice food safety?
What are the 5 key recommendations for food safety?

To meet food health and safety regulations, adequate staff training is essential. Read this article to learn what the law says about food hygiene, industry best practices and what each level of food safety training involves.

You can also download to this article as a PDF to save or print:

Food Hygiene & Staff Training PDF

What does the law say about Food Safety Regulations?

With food safety concerns over the alarming increase in food poisoning cases attributed to food eaten outside of the home, it is essential that every caterer takes steps to ensure that all food-handling staff are supervised and/or trained in food hygiene matters.

Failure to comply with regulations can result in prosecution and lead to a substantial fine or, in extreme cases, imprisonment. Bad publicity can also ruin a food business, often affecting people’s livelihoods, but, ultimately, food poisoning can kill. Therefore, effective staff training and supervision is of paramount importance, especially in an industry with such a high staff turnover of semi-skilled and unskilled kitchen staff.

Legislation regarding training encompasses food safety and hygiene, but you must not forget to make sure your staff are also aware of other issues. For example the use and storage guidelines for your cooking and refrigeration equipment - as storing and displaying food at too high a temperature is one of the most common causes of food poisoning.

How to comply with legislation?

The Food Hygiene Regulations 2006 require that the proprietor of a food business shall ensure that food handlers engaged in the food business are supervised and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters “commensurate with their work activities.” Therefore, any staff member handling food - whether open or packaged and including drinks and ice - should receive supervision / instruction / training to a level suitable for their role. But how do you classify a position and make sure you meet the regulations?

How are staff categorised?

There are essentially three categories of food handler that must be instructed and/or trained. These categories are based on the job of the individual and also on the type of food they handle. Those involved in the handling and preparation of ‘high-risk’ foods will need more training than those only involved with ‘low-risk’ items. The following table provides a useful guide:

What level of training is required?

Employee	Training level required
Staff level	Likely job title	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3
-	-	The Essentials of Food Hygiene	Hygiene Awareness Instruction	Formal Training Level 1	Formal Training Level 2 and/or 3
Category A Handle low risk or wrapped food only	Storeman, waiter/ waitress, bar staff, counter staff, servery assistant, cellarman, food delivery staff	Training required before starting work for the first time	Training required within 4 weeks of starting (8 weeks for part-time staff)	Not necessary	Not necessary
Category B Food handlers who prepare open, ‘high risk’ foods	Commis chef, cook, catering supervisor, kitchen assistant & bar staff who prepare food	Training required before starting work for the first time	Training required within 4 weeks of starting	Training required within 3 months of starting	Not necessary
Category C Food handlers who also have a supervisory role	Unit manager/ supervisor, chef manager, bar/pub manager, chef, operations general manager, owner/ operator of home/mobile catering business	Training required before starting work for the first time	Training required within 4 weeks of starting	Training required within 3 months of starting	Good practise (according to responsibilities)

What is Stage 1 - The Essentials of Food Hygiene?

To comply with regulations, anyone handling food must receive written or verbal instruction in the Essentials of Food Hygiene before they start work at an establishment for the first time.

Key points for staff to be made aware of:

Keep yourself clean and wear clean clothing
Always wash your hands thoroughly: before handling food, after using the toilet, handling raw foods or waste, before starting work, after every break and after blowing your nose
Before you start work, tell your supervisor of any skin, nose, throat, stomach or bowel trouble or infected wounds. You are breaking the law if you do not
Ensure cuts and sores are covered with a waterproof, high-visibility dressing
Avoid unnecessary handling of food
Do not smoke, eat or drink in a food room, and never cough or sneeze over food
If you see something wrong, tell your supervisor
Do not prepare food too far in advance of service
Keep perishable food either refrigerated or piping hot
Keep the preparation of raw and cooked food strictly separate
When reheating food ensure it reaches piping hot
Clean as you go - keeping all equipment and surfaces clean
Follow any food safety instructions provided, either on food packaging or from your supervisor.

What is Stage 2 - Hygiene Awareness Instruction?

All staff must also undertake a Stage 2 hygiene training course as soon as possible after starting in a food-handling role. For full-time staff this should be within four weeks and for part-time staff within eight weeks.

This level of training should help staff to develop knowledge of the basic principles of food hygiene, but needs to be made relevant to the individual’s role. Focus should be placed on instructing staff how to carry out their job hygienically to ensure food safety, including any control or monitoring processes your business has outlined as part of HACCP. To guarantee you meet your legal training requirements, you should ensure that all staff are trained on the following issues and that a training log or folder is completed and signed for each staff member.

Key points must include:

Your business policy and the priority placed on food hygiene
‘Germs’ and how these have the potential to cause illness
Personal health and hygiene, including the need for high standards, reporting illnesses and rules on smoking
Cross contamination: cause and prevention
How to safely store food: protection and temperature control
Waste disposal, cleaning and disinfection, detailing materials, methods and storage
The risks of ‘foreign body’ contamination and how to avoid
Awareness of pests.

What is Stage 3 - Formal Training?

Category B and C staff should also have completed formal food hygiene training to Level 1 and received their food hygiene certificates. This training develops a level of understanding of the basic principles of hygiene, and is commonly known as the Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene (formerly the Basic Food Hygiene Certificate).

Courses are accredited and run by several organisations, including The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) and The Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene (RIPHH). These are held at various centres throughout the UK and are available in several languages. To find out about courses in your area, visit www.cieh.org/training or email

Larger establishments and organisations may be able to establish their own in-house training to educate staff, providing the trainers themselves are adequately trained and that training is carried out to an appropriate standard to satisfy the legal requirements. Contact the CIEH or RIPHH for more information.

The Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene course covers the following areas:

Food poisoning microorganisms types and sources
Simple microbiology, toxins, spores, growth and death
Premises and equipment
Common food hazards, including physical, chemical and microbiological
Personal hygiene: basic rules and responsibilities
Preventing food contamination
Food poisoning: symptoms and causes
Cleaning and disinfection
Legal obligations
Pest control
Effective temperature control of food, for example: storage, thawing, reheating and cooking.

What are the industry best practices?

So far, we have summarised the minimum steps you must take to ensure you meet the legal requirements of current legislation. However, it is always advisable to follow industry best practice advice, especially since the ‘due diligence’ defence requires you to prove that you have taken all reasonable steps to meet the regulations.

HACCP, staff training plans and temperature control training are all standard practice in many reputable catering outlets. It would be wise to follow these procedures to ensure your statutory obligations are met. Although they are not currently specifically mentioned in legislation on training, they will ensure you meet the ‘due diligence’ test.

The 2006 regulations require that all catering space outlets - irrespective of size - monitor HACCP to conform with their policy of ‘Safer Food, Better Business’ (SFBB). Requirements differ according to outlet size with full HACCP processes required for larger businesses. SFBB covers policy for all smaller catering businesses. For more information, visit the Food Standards Agency website.

HACCP/SFBB

You should already have all of your HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) processes and procedures in place. It is particularly important to ensure that your staff have a good knowledge of these to manage food hygiene. For detailed guidance on all aspects of HACCP, see the HACCP Foster White Paper in this series.

Why use food hygiene training plans?

The recording of training activity is advisable, but not essential. However, if you can prove that every member of your staff has been trained to a level appropriate to their role, this could be vital in attempting to establish a ‘due diligence’ defence if needed.

A training plan will also ensure that any weaknesses are identified and will make sure that any change in role will lead to the necessary instruction and/or training. Ideally, a simple training form should be signed by both parties on completion of each training session and a record should be kept for every employee.

What is temperature control training?

Poor understanding of temperature control is one of the key causes of foodborne illness and all staff - especially those in Category B and C - should fully understand temperature requirements. Although this is not currently required legally, it is anticipated that legislation will become more stringent in this area over the next few years.

Staff who handle food should be appropriately trained in the operation of any restaurant blast chillers (see our Blast Chiller Blue Paper). Blast chillers help keep food out of the ‘danger zone’ of high bacteria growth rate between +8°C and +63°C. Blast chillers work by rapidly decreasing the temperature of food in a controlled manner, much faster than is possible in a standard refrigerator. While the use of blast chillers is not yet required by food safety law, they have become an industry standard.

To meet standard industry best practice, you should take steps to make sure that staff are aware of which foods are subject to existing legislation. Foods which need temperature control need to be kept either ‘hot’ at above 63°C or ‘cold’ at below 8°C. The table below is a useful guide to run through when training your staff. The full implications of the legal requirements are explained in the Foster Blue Paper on Food Temperature Laws.

Product Group	Products	Classification
Dairy products	Including milk, yoghurt, cream, food with a cream filling, dairy-based desserts and certain cheeses	Must be kept chilled unless the packaging states they are ‘stable’ at room temperature
Cooked products	Foods containing eggs, meat, fish, dairy products, cereals, rice, pulses or vegetables and sandwiches containing any of these	Must be kept chilled until ready to be eaten cold or heated
Smoked/cured ready-to eat meat or fish	Including sliced cured meats such as ham	Must be kept chilled until ready to be eaten cold or heated, unless the curing method means it is not perishable at room temperature
Prepared ready-to-eat foods	Including prepared vegetables, bags of salad leaves, vegetable salads such as coleslaw and products containing mayonnaise	Must be kept chilled
Uncooked or partly cooked pastry and dough products	Including pizzas and fresh pasta containing meat, fish or vegetables	Must be kept chilled until heated. Food labels will generally state if they need temperature control for this group
Room temperature foods	Including some cured/ smoked products and certain bakery products	Do not need to be kept chilled
Preserved foods	Including canned and dried foods, jams, pickles and sauces	Do not need to be kept chilled until opened, when they become perishable at room temperature
Room temperature ripe/ mature foods	Including soft or mould-ripened cheeses	Do not need to be kept chilled until fully ripened or matured, when they must be chilled when stored or displayed
Raw food for further processing (including cooking)	Including fresh meat, fish and shellfish	Do not need to be kept chilled unless it is intended to be eaten raw. For example: sushi

Are there exceptions to temperature control?

The following are not covered by the temperature control guidelines above:

Food displayed in restaurants or cafes, in buffets, or served and displayed in shops can be kept out of temperature control for up to four hours, but only for one period of service or display. Afterwards, any food that is left must be thrown away or chilled until final use
In Scotland, the regulations differ as a maximum temperature for chilling is not specified but businesses are still required to chill foods if they need to be chilled to keep them safe
Food can also be kept unchilled for a limited time when it is being loaded or unloaded from a refrigerated vehicle to be delivered to/from food premises
Where there are unavoidable circumstances - for example when food has to be handled during and after processing, or if equipment is defrosted or temporarily breaks down - food can be kept unchilled for a limited time.

Contacts

It’s important to ensure that your business stays fully up to date with current legislation and industry food hygiene standards. Food business operators should check out the following on a regular basis:

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health: www.cieh.org

The Royal Society for Public Health: www.rsph.org.uk

The Food Standards Agency: www.food.gov.uk

Copies of the current legislation are available from www.tsoshop.co.uk

Food Temperature Laws download

Handling and Serving Ice download

Safe Food Storage download

HACCP- Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points download

The Safe Way to Blast Chill, Freeze and Thaw download

Inspection by Environmental Health Officers download

Plan for a Catering Crisis download

Fire Ratings & Coldroom Panels.

Energy Efficiency download

The ECA Scheme

Food Safety and E. Coli

Hydrocarbons in Refrigeration download

The Climate Change Levy download

How can you practice food safety in the workplace?

Workplace food safety.

Always wash your hands (or use an alcohol gel or wipe if working outdoors) before touching food. ... .

Store your lunch in the fridge (or in a cooler with ice bricks if you work outside) until lunchtime..

What is training in food safety?

This course provides the skills and knowledge required to apply good hygiene practices within a range of service industry operations.

What are 4 ways to practice food safety?

Four Steps to Food Safety: Clean, Separate, Cook, Chill. Following four simple steps at home—Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill—can help protect you and your loved ones from food poisoning.