Keeping records and food safety are integral components of a sound Food Safety Management System. These records should be kept on a daily basis. Record keeping does not need to be complicated or time consuming. It is important to keep important information that along with written down procedures demonstrating what a food business does to ensure safe to eat food is provided. In addition, the law requires food handling businesses to keep certain records.
Things that records should include are, e.g.:
Checks to make at the beginning of the day:
Checks to make at the end of the day include:
The following are useful records to keep about suppliers:
In addition, the following records must be kept:
The things relating to staff training records should include:
Before a new food handler is allowed to handle food, they must receive written or verbal instruction in the essentials of food hygiene. Everyone who handles food must be trained and qualified, and records of training and refresher training should be kept. eLearn Safety offers fully online food safety training. eLearn Safety online courses are convenient, affordable and user friendly courses developed with students in mind.
The purpose of Food Safety training is not only to gain the Certificate which someone will keep at the bottom of their deepest drawer, piled with many other long lost and forgotten items. The purpose of Food Safety training is to learn how to handle food in a safe and hygienic manner as in the end, all food handlers have a legal and moral duty to keep their customers safe from harm. The Certificate itself is just a nice add-on.
If something that was unexpected happens, or if something goes wrong in the food handling area, it is important to make a note of it. For the sake of keeping records and food safety, it should be recorded what was done about it to put things right.
For example, if a food handler mistakenly puts ready to eat food on the bottom shelf of the fridge and unwrapped raw meat on a plate above it. This can result in juices from the raw meat to fall onto the food below. In this case actions done to correct this should be noted. For example, the records might look something like the following:
The Safe Catering Pack is designed by Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) for caterers as a practical, easy to use, Food Safety Management System.
Using the pack will help to:
The pack was designed for caterers, but it may also be used by other food businesses. It is ideal for businesses that have not yet developed their own food safety management system but may also be used by businesses to improve existing systems.
Please remember – it is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Food Safety (HACCP) courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Following food law and compliance are integral parts of any food handling/producing business. The food business can ensure compliance with food law by operating a Food Safety Management System. This system should be based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles.
It is a legal requirement for any food business to demonstrate what procedures are followed to ensure that the food it handles is safe to consume. All procedures must be recorded in written form.
For a food handling business to ensure food law and compliance, everyone who handles food must be trained and qualified in safe food handling. For easy and convenient ways to ensure safe food handling competencies, eLearn Safety developed fully online Food Safety courses with learner in mind. All learners are supported throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. eLearn Safety staff has extensive training experience with many years industry experience. Priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace. Once the training has been completed, all training and refresher up-to-date training records should be kept.
A food business must be able to demonstrate where foodstuffs came from, where they went (if the business sells to retailers) and who did what in the meantime. The procedures that are followed (such as daily checks) must be kept in place permanently and all records must be available for examination by the relevant Authorities, in most cases Environmental Health Officers from HSE on the behalf of the FSAI.
Operating an effective Food Safety Management System means that aspects of the running of a food business are routinely checked and recorded. This will enable the business to comply with both; legal requirements and fulfil due diligence requisite.
Everyone deserves to be protected against food that might make them ill. This is what the food safety law aims to do. By operating an effective Food Safety Management System, businesses can abide by the law more easily. Good procedures and practices will go a long way towards ensuring a full compliance. Unfortunately this is not always the case. In October 2023, the FSAI served five enforcement orders on food business. According to the FSAI, some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in October include:
…cooking trays not washed after use and congealed with grease and charred food particles; mould growth visible on the internal surfaces of a milkshake blender with a foul odour detected when the lid was removed; the presence of undeclared allergens in food with a potential to cause a life threatening allergic reaction; no evidence of a food safety culture; a drinking water sample taken from the food business indicating contamination of the supply; large open containers of raw chicken left on various surfaces throughout the food premises at room temperature, permitting the growth of bacteria; no hand washing observed during the inspection; filthy premises with dirty cardboard used both as a food contact surface for cooked rice and on the flooring throughout the premises.
Providing unsafe food is a serious food business failure. This may result in serious legal actions, prosecutions and imprisonment.
Please remember – it is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Food Safety (HACCP) courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Bullying in the workplace is a serious moral, ethical and a legal issue.
According to the Health and Safety Authority of Ireland (HSA), bullying in the workplace can be defined as:
“… repeated inappropriate behaviour, direct or indirect, whether verbal, physical or otherwise, conducted by one or more persons against another or others, at the place of work and/or in the course of employment, which could be reasonably regarded as undermining the individual’s right to dignity at work…”
Occupational health is the promotion and maintenance of not only physical well-being of all staff but also mental wellbeing. Bullying at work impacts performance and productivity at work as well as a person’s mental wellbeing. The best way of dealing with bullying in the workplace is prevention. Bullying can have serious negative effects for all those involved. This might include not only the person being bullied, but also the person being accused of bullying. It is important to distinguish bullying from other inappropriate situations or appropriate workplace engagement.
Behaviour which makes for a bullying in the workplace pattern will likely include not just one but a range of the following behaviours:
Bullying does not include (non-exhaustive list):
Bullying in the workplace can quickly escalate, introducing other unwanted hazards such as general stress that can lead to alcohol and drugs abuse and violence.
A large percentage of sick leave is due to stress. Employees should be encouraged to report stress and management should be trained to recognise the symptoms and causes of stress such as inability or reduced ability to cope with normal tasks and situations, increased sick leave and/or poor time keeping.
Violence abuse, threats, bullying or assault can cause stress and concern as well as a physical injury. Staff should be encouraged to report all occurrences to their supervisors who should record and investigate the details and if necessary report to the relevant authorities.
eLearn Safety has developed a fully online Bullying Awareness course. Bullying Awareness course is for all employees. It provides practical steps and conscientious guidance to help prevent, identify and confidently confront bullying and harassment at work.
If you feel you are being bullied at the workplace, the HSA has a useful information page What to do if You Feel You are Being Bullied. Additional useful resource is Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work.
Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.
Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.
This is why we have established Myelearsafety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Allergenic food contamination can produce serious life threatening reactions in some people. Many people are allergic to certain foods, so you must always be aware of all the ingredients contained in the food served by your kitchen. For example, many pre-prepared foodstuffs such as ice cream contain eggs, and other foods contain traces of nuts. Be very careful when garnishing food, because even if a pre-prepared food type is allergen free, if it is garnished with chopped nuts it can become fatal to certain people.
All members of staff must be trained in Allergen Awareness and observe the house rules. They should be able to recognise the symptoms of an allergic reaction. For a convenient fully online Managing Food Allergens course, please see eLearn Safety course on Managing Food Allergens. It is very important to make sure that food suppliers provide complete ingredient information. This is especially important if any changes to food ingredients are made. The best way to ensure your suppliers are compliant is having a robust and up-to-date Food Safety Management Systems in place. Some useful information can be found in eLearn Safety blog entry from 5th May 2023 titled Food Safety Management System (FSMS).
Another important task of all food handlers is to listen carefully to customers. If an allergy sufferer asks for information about the ingredients of a certain food, it is essential that all involved in the food business have allergenic food contamination awareness so they can give an accurate response to their customers.
Naturally, there are some food handling establishments whose unique selling point is food that are classified as allergenic. Examples of such establishments are restaurants that serve sea food or dishes containing nuts. The most important word here is awareness – all staff must be aware of food ingredients in each dish. Likewise, customers must be aware that the seafood restaurant will most likely serve fish as a main offering.
Businesses cannot claim they don’t know what allergens are in the food they are serving or use ‘blanket-cover all’ expressions ‘food may contain allergens’ for all food they serve.
Allergic food contamination is a serious issue as allergies can cause an anaphylactic shock. Anaphylactic shock is life-threatening.
The symptoms include:
If someone suffers these symptoms, immediate medical attention must be provided. In addition, calling an ambulance is a must.
There are 14 allergens that must be declared by law. These are:
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland published useful information in relation to Food Allergens on their web page titled Food Allergens – Advice for Consumers.
Please remember – it is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Food Safety (HACCP) courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
