Are there Food Safety Requirements for a Childcare Provider?
The Environmental Health Association of Ireland (EHAI) recommends that where a childcare service provides food to children, relevant staff are required to have food safety training.
The childcare provider needs to have a HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point) Food Safety System in place.
Your food safety management system allows you to identify and control any hazards that could pose a danger to the preparation of safe food. It helps you to:
- identify what can go wrong
- plan to prevent it
- make sure you are doing it.
According to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), If you are responsible for developing and maintaining your business’s HACCP based procedures then you must undertake adequate training in the application of HACCP principles.
HACCP training is a requirement
What Level of Food Safety Training Do Our Staff Need?
The Food Safety (HACCP) Level 1 course is ideal for those with no previous experience, with light food handling duties and/or performing low-risk duties (such as waiters, baristas, caregivers, kitchen porters, deli shop assistants, etc.).
This is the recommended level for all food handlers, or those working in a kitchen setting, who do not have management responsibility for HACCP.
Food Safety HACCP Level 3 defines food safety skills for management and is aimed specifically towards Catering Managers, Supervisors, Executive and Head Chefs within the Hospitality Industry, Industrial and Institutional Catering Units, along with the Health Sector, Retail Sector and Delis.There should be at least one food worker with Food Safety HACCP Level 3 on duty in a food premises.
Managers, Owners, need to be able to manage HACCP systems. They should also have a good understanding of how to implement a HACCP Programme for their workplace. All food businesses are required by law to have a food safety management system in place based on the principles of HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point).
What Can Myelearnsafety Do for You?
Contact Myelearnsafety, HACCP Food Safety Training Consultants can be contacted for free HACCP Food Safety Advice and Guidance.
Telephone the office @ 01 278 1938 – As for Shane or Cormac
Food Safety HACCP & EU
What is HACCP?
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a system meant to ensure that food products are not a risk to human health. It is a tool to assess hazards and establish control systems that focuses on prevention.
Interestingly NASA developed and used the approach for production of safe foods for manned space flights.
Procedures based on HACCP principles are mandatory for most business operators placing food or feed on the EU market. Since 1998 it has been a legal requirement for all food businesses in Ireland to have a food safety management system based on the principles of HACCP.
Importance of Food Safety HACCP training in the workplace
EU Legislation Covering Food Hygiene
EU food law places full responsibility for safe food on the food business operators. In accordance with EU law all food businesses are, therefore, obliged to implement own-check systems. This own-check system must build on the principles of HACCP.
The specific pieces of legislation which cover this are Regulation (EC) 852/2004 and Regulation (EC) 853/2004.
The following principles are covered under these hygiene rules:
- Primary responsibility for food safety borne by the food business operator
- Food safety ensured throughout the food chain, starting with primary production
- General implementation of procedures based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points principles (HACCP)
- Application of basic common hygiene requirements, possibly further specified for certain categories of food
- Registration or approval for certain food establishments
- Development of guides to good practice for hygiene or for the application of HACCP principles as a valuable instrument to aid food business operators at all levels of the food chain to comply with the new rules.
- Flexibility provided for food produced in remote areas (high mountains, remote islands) and for traditional production and methods.
Who must be trained in HACCP?
Food handlers must be supervised, and also instructed and/or trained in food hygiene based on the level of activity they are involved in.
If you are responsible for your business’s HACCP system then you must undertake adequate training in the application of HACCP principles.
You can learn how to develop and implement an effective food safety system, incorporating Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) via online learning giving certification which is recognised nationally by employers and environmental health officers.
To effectively safeguard your business today, talk to Cormac or Shane on 01 278 1938.
Cyber Security & Social Engineering: Phishing
How to Recognize Phishing Attacks
Scammers use email or text messages to trick you into giving them your personal information. They may try to steal your passwords, account numbers, or Social Security numbers. If they get that information, they could gain access to your email, bank, or other accounts. Scammers launch thousands of phishing attacks like these every day — and they’re often successful. A survey carried out by Censuswide, found that approximately 185,000 Irish people – have fallen victim to a phishing scam.
Scammers often update their tactics, but there are some signs that will help you recognize a phishing email or text message.
Phishing emails and text messages may look like they’re from a company you know or trust. They may look like they’re from a bank, a credit card company, a social networking site, an online payment website or app, or an online store.
Phishing emails and text messages often tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment.
They may:
- Say they’ve noticed some suspicious activity or log-in attempts
- Claim there’s a problem with your account or your payment information
- Say you must confirm some personal information
- Include a fake invoice
- Want you to click on a link to make a payment
- Say you’re eligible to register for a government refund
- Offer a coupon for free products
Here’s a real world example of a phishing email:
There are some obvious giveaways with the above email which tells us that this is a phishing attempt.
Once we hover over the ‘Click here to update your payment information’ link we can see that actual web address is a bogus one and not from Glivy. The multiple other email addresses in the address bar is another giveaway, as is the urgent nature of the email trying to prey on our insecurities. The recipient’s name is not added as a salutation, rather just ‘Glivy Subscriber’. All of these are warning signs telling us that this is an attempt at phishing and that this email should be instantly blocked.
These are some of the topics which are covered in our new Cybersecurity: Social Engineering course.
For any questions relating to cyber security training please contact Cormac on 01 278 1938.
Create change in the workplace by investing in Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging (DIEB).
What is DIEB?
Firstly, let’s look at what DIEB is. Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging are important qualities that employers and HR must invest in at work to promote wellbeing and fairness among their employees.
Diversity is having a culture that values uniqueness: people of different backgrounds, cultures, genders, and races.
Inclusion means inviting diverse groups to take part in company life.
Workplace equity is the concept of providing fair opportunities for all of your employees based on their individual needs.
It’s belonging that makes each individual feel accepted for who they are.
Why is this important?
There are many benefits derived from DIEBs in the workplace for the employer:
- Increased range of ideas. One of the key benefits of diversity in society is the vast range of ideas that can be explored.
- Diversity in the workplace will often result in a much broader spectrum of creativity, from people with different backgrounds, skills and experiences. A wider range of different perspectives will be highly beneficial across all teams; from marketing to finance.
- Increased employee engagement. Generally speaking, employees who feel included and wanted will be more engaged and motivated to do well. In turn, a more engaged team will often yield better team performance; making it a win-win for employers.
- Boosts company reputation & simplifies recruitment processes. Diversity in the workplace will help to build a great reputation for the company; especially important when you are looking to hire and retain talent. Especially in terms of graduate recruitment, DIEBs can play a huge role in attracting candidates to your business; if done well, it can also help you stand out from the bigger firms.
By working towards equity – for instance, asking different individuals from different groups to spearhead meetings – dissatisfaction could be curbed, ultimately bringing down employee attrition.
Most studies surrounding diversity in the workplace have found that for every 1% increase in gender diversity, company revenue increases by 3%.
Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Belonging in the workplace
How to promote DIEB in the workplace
Plan for Improving Diversity in Hiring
Ireland is known for being a friendly, accepting nation of diverse backgrounds. A recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 57% of recruiters say their talent acquisition strategies are designed to attract diverse candidates.
Diversity in hiring leads to the following positive outcomes:
Appeal to a wide range of applicants. A larger pool of applicants increases the likelihood of attracting top talent who are going to buy into the diverse company culture, stay around for longer, and be have high levels of productivity.
Decrease bias. Decreased bias in recruitment, as well as adhering to anti discrimination legislation, allows for the best candidate to be chosen on merit rather than any other grounds of possible recruitment bias.
Reduce the likelihood of hiring the wrong person for the job. A candidate will not be chosen just because they are the right fit based on existing staff, but rather because they are the best candidate based on suitability factors, such as education, qualification, work ethos and having given a successful interview.
We explore further ways to promote DIEBS in our Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging online course.
Recognising and Promoting Positive Safety Behaviour
For employers there is a legal duty to provide a safe place of work for their employees wherever the place of work maybe. In these COVID-19 times this can and does in many cases mean remote working from home. Health and Safety requires all the stake holders to actively participate in safe work practice and to understand what is involved to create a safe place to work. Giving staff the information and tools to do this is a first step. When on-boarding staff, it is important to carry out a risk assessment that is personal to the employee and their role. Making sure they have the correct training, and any necessary certification is the next step and thereafter the employer needs to monitor compliance and performance.
Office Ergonomics
An effective way of doing this is through an online solution that provides the records and training required. Having such a system that provides 24/7 access to information you can then go further to promote positive safety behaviour. By encouraging ongoing engagement with the core safety information and training you can see which employees are performing well and keeping engaged and up to date. You can incentivise staff to make sure they are aware of safe behaviour and you can encourage them to report unsafe issues that may arise.
It is true that a safe place of work is likely to be a more productive environment for the employee which all contributes to your bottom line. Promoting positive safety behaviour will reduce the risk of accidents and incidents and will reduce days lost to illness or accidents. It will also help you protect your company from the negative publicity and potential legal action arising from an accident in the workplace. Everyone in a working environment requires knowledge and training on safety behaviour and how to ensure a safe and healthy workplace. A desk bound job requires proper ergonomics and knowledge regarding breaks and what to do in an emergency. Even working in the home carries significant risks if a workstation is not correctly set up.
Our pattern and location of work is changing rapidly as a result of the pandemic and is likely to change permanently with a much larger degree of blended work where people attend the office on a part time basis. In this scenario it will become increasingly important to promote positive safety behaviour as the employer will have less control of the work environment while still being legally responsible for it. Even more reason to recognise and promote positive safety behaviour.
Myelearnsafety.com can provide more information on this topic as well as providing a solution to safety training and compliance monitoring. We would be delighted to hear from you with any of your concerns or problems.
Article by Vincent Traynor
Please feel free to contact Cormac on 01 278 1938 or cormac@elearn.ie, if you would like to discuss your health and safety needs further, or take advantage of a complimentary course.
Managing Mental Health for Remote Workers
Timely advice has been published by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) on virtual assessment of working conditions for remote workers. While there is concentration in the advice on the physical conditions and equipment needed it is a good idea to consider how to help reduce stress for employees as part of a health and safety policy in the workplace.
Working in an office or remotely can produce a stressful environment for mental health. An employer is obliged under legislation to provide a safe place of work for their employees and employees are entitled to expect that provision is made by their employers regardless of where they are working. Mental health is an important part of a safe place to work. Mindfulness Practice can help reduce stress. A simple way to help reduce stress would be to provide access to a course on mindfulness practice.
People working remotely are missing out on the normal social interaction in the office environment which can create its own stress. People working in an office environment are subject to a different set of circumstances. Both can benefit from Mindfulness practice. Myelearnsafety.com provides a mindfulness practice course that can give you a simple guide to the topic and help start you on the way to reduce stress in your workplace, particularly if you are working remotely.
Other courses will also help you assess your workstation requirements when working remotely and the staff at myelearnsafety.com can provide expert competent assessment of remote working conditions and provide the relevant advice.
For further advice contact cormac@elearn.ie or on +353 1 278 1938.
Article written by Vincent Traynor
Why is Microlearning the Future for Health & Safety Training?
An accident at work is defined by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) as ‘An unplanned event resulting in death, or resulting in an injury such as a severe sprain or strain (for example, manual handling injuries), a laceration, a broken bone, concussion or unconsciousness. ‘An employer’s duties under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 includes the requirement for the provision of training.
Most businesses do have a provision for safety training in place and most employers have (especially given the current necessity) embraced online learning. This is a current trend. But what’s the trend for the future?
Long, clunky, eLearning pieces (I’m sure you’ve seen these too!) can be boring and laborious to employees. This is where microlearning comes into play.
What is Microlearning?
Micro-learning is a modern approach to delivering learning materials in small, bite-sized portions that target specific topics. The conciseness of these materials makes it easier to digest.
- Microlearning is performed in short time bursts.
- It requires little effort from individual sessions.
- It involves simple and/or narrow topics.
Millennials will make up a large part of the future workforce. Traditional models of eLearning just won’t cut it with this demographic, and will naturally be phased out. The popularity of microlearning is on the up as it’s the ideal way to ensure that learning is received, digested and engaged with.
How to use Microlearning Effectively
The following are some examples of how microlearning can be applied in practice:
Short and brief tips: When so much information is thrown at workers, the possibility of retaining all of it is very low. For effective transfer of knowledge, the microlearning objective should focus on just one concept.
Use interactive videos: The process of taking in information is better easier with the use of videos rather than bulky materials that cover an excessive amount. Even better if the video contains branching scenarios .
Use of short quizzes for checking progress: The employees are provided with continuous access to these materials, and as each section is completed, they are required to provide suitable responses to the questions.
Use of gamification: Short games, or some gaming elements within the microlearning can be used by companies to increase interactivity, add an element of competition, the end goal being to help train their staff in health and safety more effectively.
Shorter, asynchronous, interactive courses with the above elements can benefit all health and courses, from Food Safety (HACCP), COVID-19 Compliance Officer, First Aid, Infection Prevention and control, to name but a few.
If you are looking for an effective way to streamline your safety training needs, Myelearnsafety.com offers a suite of health and safety courses to cover you. We offer a free trial to those who are interested, so you can see the benefits for yourself.
For a free trial contact cormac@elearn.ie or call direct on 01 278 1938.
Employers Beware: COVID-19 and Remote Working Obligations
The Safety Health and Welfare at Work legislation boils down to the fact that Employers are obliged to provide a safe place to work.
There are significant sanctions for employers who breach the legislation including fines up to €3 million and imprisonment for up to 2 years for a serious breach. In 2019 in HSA v Walker the defendant was prosecuted for a breach of s11(1)(c)(ii) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and sentenced to 6 months with only 2 month suspended.
In these COVID 19 times a workplace can mean working from home for many employees. Employers have a duty therefore to check that their employees have the appropriate facilities and equipment to work safely. The big difference now is that people working from home are doing so for their full working day or at least a large part of their working hours. Appropriate desk, chair and work station ergonomics need to be considered. How do you keep in touch with your staff to check on their well-being? Is there inappropriate online activity? How is everyone’s mental health holding up? These are just a few of the considerations that you need to consider and find ways of dealing with issues that were previously dealt with in the office environment.
“Having a designated COVID-19 Compliance Officer within the workplace
is looking like becoming the new norm.”
Having a designated COVID-19 Compliance Officer within the workplace is looking like becoming the new norm. This person or persons will be tasked with ensuring businesses meet any instructions or rules issued by the Government in order to allow them to continue trading. Online training, health and safety awareness and carrying out up to date risk assessments can be implemented easily and at low cost. A simple example is asking your employees to send a photo of their workstation. This can then be reviewed by an appropriate qualified person to assess its suitability. Creating appropriate checklists and procedures can help employers and employees assess what needs to be done in everyone’s best interests.
Myelearnsafety.com provides a range of courses and our experts are on hand to give advice and courses to suit your business helping you create a better safer workplace in a changed pandemic world and helping you meet your legal requirements to provide a safe place of work.
Benefits of eLearning to COVID-19 Transmission Rates
eLearning Trends
eLearning was already on the rise pre-COVID-19. For some time there has been a phenomenal growth of eLearning use among the corporate sector. 90% of corporations now use e-learning compared to just 4% in 1995. And the reason for this is obvious; with employees delivering increased productivity for every euro/dollar invested in e-learning.
Though it was trending that way anyway, the onset of COVID-19 has meant that the growth of eLearning has spread well beyond the corporate sector, to now encompass the education, healthcare, computer & info tech, retail and eCommerce and construction sectors, among others.
People working remotely, businesses moving online and people choosing to learn online rather than in the classroom – the necessary restrictions caused by Covid-19, have seen technology take centre stage in so many aspects of business and life.
There has been a two-fold benefit when it comes to reducing the rate of transfer of COVID-19.
Benefits of eLearning to reducing spread of COVID-19
Reducing the Transmission Rate
As well as the positive environmental impact of an increased uptake in eLearning, there has been a two-fold benefit when it comes to reducing the rate of transfer of COVID-19. The first, and most obvious of these benefits, is the reduction in face-to-face contact. The second benefit is the opportunity to increase employee awareness, training and general education regarding COVID-19, with COVID-19 specific courses such as COVID-19 Infection Prevention & Control, COVID-19 Compliance Officer, and COVID-19 Lead Worker Representative courses.
Looking at COVID-19 Infection Prevention & Control courses as an example, this type course provides a better understanding of the basic principles of infection control and the ability to apply standard precautions while understanding the chain of infection and an employees’ own role in the prevention of the spread of infection. All going towards reducing the transmission rate of COVID-19.
“Students acquire knowledge and skills through online and offline eLearning as well as or better than they do through traditional teaching”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) itself has taken a proactive approach to providing eLearning courses aimed at controlling and preventing the spread of infection of viruses such as the novel coronavirus. This is not surprising, as the findings from a review commissioned by the WHO showed that students acquire knowledge and skills through online and offline eLearning as well as or better than they do through traditional teaching.
If you are interested in taking precautions to minimise the spread of COVID-19 either now, or upon return to work, speak to Cormac at: +353 1 2781938 or cormac@elearn.ie