Complete food safety monitoring processes and complete documents as required
Food safety monitoring
Your organisation’s food safety program will outline what monitoring processes should be followed in order to maintain the safety of food.
These monitoring processes may include:
➢ Bacterial swabs and counts
➢ Checking and recording that food is stored in appropriate timeframes
➢ Chemical tests
➢ Monitoring and recording food temperatures using a temperature measuring device accurate to plus or minus 1 degree Celsius
➢ Monitoring and recording temperature of cold and hot storage equipment
➢ Visual examination of food for quality review.
The monitoring processes used will depend on the types of food involved, and the nature of your handling of it. For some food types, a visual check for bruises and other damage may be sufficient, but for others, it will be necessary to conduct more thorough checks involving chemical tests and temperature checks, etc.
Monitoring checks
For all of the food that you are involved in handling, you need to make sure that you are fully aware of any food safety monitoring checks that you are responsible for.
This will require you to be familiar with:
➢ The types of food you are responsible for
monitoring
➢ How often you should conduct the monitoring
➢ What monitoring procedures you should follow
➢ What monitoring equipment you need to use
➢ What documentation you need to complete.
If you are unfamiliar with any of the above, you can:
➢ Check your organisation’s policies and procedures, including its food safety program
➢ Refer to any training guides or materials that you have been given
➢ Ask your supervisor or line manager for guidance.
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Activity 1D
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1.5 – Identify and report non-conforming practices
Implementing food safety practices
Your organisation’s procedures are in place to ensure that the food safety program is implemented correctly, thereby guaranteeing the safety of the food which you are handling.
However, despite having robust procedures, things can and do sometimes go wrong for a variety of reasons:
➢ Staff can sometimes forget the procedures or haven’t been properly trained in them
➢ Staff can sometimes choose not to follow the procedures, for various reasons (e.g. can’t be bothered; don’t want to be co-operative; don’t agree with the procedure; etc.)
➢ Equipment and resources sometimes don’t allow procedures to be implemented fully and/or correctly, etc.
There are many reasons why things can go wrong, but in the role of a food handler, it is essential that you are observant and have the confidence to report any non-conforming practice.
You may identify non-conformances in a range of different ways.
For example, you may notice that:
➢ Temperature checks have been missed, when you conduct temperature monitoring
➢ Monitoring documents have not been completed correctly, lacking details such as signatures, etc.
➢ Food has been stored incorrectly
➢ Packaging seals are missing or broken, etc.
You need to be alert in your role to spot any non-conformances – remember that any situation in which procedures have not been followed correctly or at the correct time could result in harm for the consumers of your product, which leaves the organisation liable for legal prosecutions.
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Reporting non-conformance
All incidents of non-conformance should be reported in order to ensure that issues are promptly addressed and that safe food handling practices are consistently enforced. Reports should be made in accordance with organisational policy and procedure.
You should ensure you know:
➢ How to submit a report
➢ When to submit a report
➢ The correct report format
➢ What must be included in a report
➢ To whom to submit a report.
Consequences of not observing food safety
If you do not follow your organisation’s food safety procedures, depending on the type and seriousness of the breach, your organisation can be liable to fines or even a temporary or permanent closure of business (and any lawsuits that may arise through customer health incidents). They may also be added to a ‘name and shame’ register which is made available to the public.
Non-compliance can put people’s health at risk and you must carry out the food safety practices at all times. Your organisation may be ultimately liable, but you as an employee will be subject to the disciplinary procedures in place at the organisation. These may include verbal and written warnings, and dismissal from your job.
Environmental health officers
Each state/territory will have environmental health officers who work at a local government level to perform inspections at food businesses. Local governments are responsible for enforcing the legislation and policies of Food Standards Australia New Zealand and state/territory authorities.
These checks ensure that food safety is being upheld correctly and to help identify any potential risks to consumer/customer health. An inspection can be performed at any time to check how a business is managing its operations and food safety.
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Activity 1E
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1.6 – Take corrective actions within scope of job responsibility for incidents where food hazards are not controlled
Food hazards which are not controlled
From your monitoring activities or from your general day-to-day observations, you may identify incidents where food hazards have not been controlled.
This may include:
➢ Customer complaints
➢ Existence of pests and vermin
➢ Food not under temperature control
➢ Food poisoning
➢ Misuse of single use items
➢ Spoilt or contaminated food
➢ Stocks of out-of-date foodstuffs
➢ Unclean equipment.
Your organisation’s procedures should state what to do if any of these incidents occur. It is important that you act within the scope of your job role and responsibilities. If a customer was to complain about finding an eyelash in their food, for example, your response should be in line with your organisation’s procedures – it would probably not be appropriate for you to ring the supplier to complain about the quality of their food, but it probably would be appropriate for you to bring this to your manager’s attention perhaps, or to apologise to the customer and offer them a complimentary drink or discount, etc.
You need to be familiar with:
➢ The types of incidents that may occur in relation to the food that you are handling
➢ What you should do if you identify an incident
➢ When you should take action in response to an incident.
If you are unsure of what to do, you should ask your supervisor or line manager for guidance.
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Scope of own responsibility
The scope of your own responsibility will depend upon your own job role and the extent of the authority you have to take decisive action.
Depending on the scope of your own responsibility, corrective action may involve:
➢ Reporting issues to more senior members of staff
➢ Sanitising areas and/or equipment
➢ Implementing pest control
➢ Reviewing control measures
➢ Throwing out unsafe foodstuffs.
You should prioritise the safety of staff and customers and ensure that no products which are hazardous are served. You should also consider compliance with the relevant legislation, codes and standards as paramount, and ensure that you eliminate all hazards as soon as they are identified.
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Activity 1F
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- Store food safely
2.1. Select food storage conditions for specific food type
2.2. Store food in environmental conditions that protect against contamination and maximise freshness, quality and appearance
2.3. Store food at controlled temperatures and ensure that frozen items remain frozen during storage
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