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.