HACCP Guidelines: Health and Food

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The Importance of a Healthy Work Environment

There are many reasons why it is desirable to maintain a healthy work environment for employees. One reason that cannot be stressed enough is for your own safety. Any sort of slips, falls or trips in the work place could prevent you from working for months depending on the injury. More importantly, a work environment that pays careless attention to hazards could threaten your life.

Therefore, it is important to understand the safeguards that help protect you from any work-related accidents.

Causes of accidents:

Presence of substances such as water, grease etc. on the ground

Hazards that may lead one to slip can be found on both wet and dry surfaces

Electric cables, curled up carpets, uneven surfaces or items left on the floor

These are a few examples of the hazards which many cause an accident, these are all ordinary and common things and it is important not to become oblivious of them.

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Protecting Yourself and Others

Dealing with spills:

Don't avoid it; deal with it immediately

Use an absorbent material to soak up the spill

Clear the area around the spill

Avoid cleaning the area with something already wet i.e. a mop

Once the area is cleared place a wet floor sign over the wet area to warn customers of the potential risk involved in walking over the area

Remove a warning sign when it no longer is applicable

High-risk areas:

Be aware of areas of transition, for example, an entrance, where people move from wet ground to dry

Have precautions to remove moisture from footwear

Invest in high quality mats along routes where most customers walk

Areas of level changes e.g. stairs/steps, slopes/ramps etc.

Make sure the surface is slip resistant

Provide proper lighting so people can see where they are going

Keep the top and the bottom of the stairs clean and free from obstacles

Avoid carrying heavy items on stairs

Cables and electrical equipment

Identify cables that are trailing

Identify faulty electrical outlets

Make sure all electrical equipment is plugged in properly

Poorly maintained flooring

Identify poorly maintained or damaged floors; commit to repairs and prevent future damage

Recognise mats and rugs that could hazardous and ensure they are controlled

Chemicals

Always be aware of how chemicals are utilised by reading the label for instructions

Adhere strictly to the instructions

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Protecting Yourself and Others

Keeping the work environment hygienic:

Always keep this in mind: Clean as you go

Keep staff areas and changing rooms clean and tidy

Have a designated storage room for cleaning products and agents

Use cleaning agents and equipment as instructed

Don't leave all the cleaning for the end of the shift

Keep floors and access points clear

Avoid doing messy work near pedestrian route ways

Make sure to have slip-resistant footwear for your own safety

Assess the floor to determine whether cleaning is needed

If you can, dry clean the floor with a mircofibre brush

When cleaning with mop use hot water with detergent, do not use cool or dirty water

Maintain clean floors during times of less business

When possible block off an area being cleaned using a barrier

Systematic procedures:

Routinely check that your footwear meets the requirement of your working environment

Routinely remind yourself of the necessary principles to ensure your work environment is safe both for yourself and your work colleagues

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Protecting Yourself and Others

Working at heights:

If you ever have to store away a delivery, tidy shelves or clean out any area that is out of comfortable reach you should commit to the following:

Obtain a ladder or foot stool

Make sure it is placed firm and secure on the surface below

Never position in the way of a potential hazard e.g. doorway

Always hold any safety handrails and clear items one by one

Store the ladder or foot stool safely away

Lifting and Moving:

This section is to help instruct you how to manually handle delivery items and other heavy loads properly in order to prevent any sort of injury, whether that be to muscle or the back.

Get into position facing the item.

Arms should be in against your body and feet spaced shoulder width apart.

Bend down with your knees to draw closer to the item.

Lift using your leg muscles.

Hold item close to your body at waist level.

Avoid twisting or quick movements with the item.

Always remember to keep your back straight and bend your legs to lift.

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Protecting Yourself and Others

Evacuation and alarms:

Familiarise yourself with the sound of the alarm, where all the exits are located and where the assembly point is

Once you hear the alarm:

Leave the establishment via the nearest exit; ignore your personal belongings

If needs be assist any customers that might need help in order to help the evacuation process flow

Go to the assembly point

Wait for the instruction of a manager before entering the building again

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Temperature Control

As with the nature of any food business, the threat that exists regarding food poisoning either to yourself or to customers is real. You need to be aware that bacteria survive and may multiply under certain temperature conditions, they can typically double in number every 10 to 20 minutes. In order to reduce contamination of food you must be able to cook food properly, store it correctly and clean the work environment frequently.

Examine deliveries for any damage, contamination and also for the correct temperature

All fridges displays should read a temperature of higher than 0°C to less than 5°C

Recommended that you record temperatures two times a day

Any chilled food that has been opened should be labelled with a three day use-by date

When storing cooked food and raw food, place the cooked above the raw to prevent cross-contamination

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Food Hygiene

Avoid the following around food. Never:

Eat or chew any food in a food preparation area

Pick your nose or scratch your head

Cough or sneeze over food (if you do make sure to sneeze or cough into the inside of your elbow)

Handle food when you have just touched your face, nose or head

Safe food handling:

Utensils that are used for serving food should be touched only when necessary

Store raw and ready-to-eat products separately

Do not allow these products to come into contact with one another

Use separate utensils for raw and ready-to-eat products

Be aware of the food allergens that exist in your work environment

Use a colour coding system for different types of food for both preparation and serving

Be aware of the proper ways to store different types of food e.g. frozen items should be in the freezer at over -18°C

When appropriate package and label food e.g. opening tomatoes, remember to reseal and place a label on them with the open date and use-by date

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Food Hygiene

Chemicals:

Be aware of all the different chemicals used in the work environment and how they may potentially contaminate food. There are many ways you can prevent contamination from occurring:

Follow the instructions as outlined on the chemicals label

Never use containers that are used for storing food for any kind of chemical storage

Be sure to sanitise surfaces when food is not present

Store chemicals in a separate room or press away from food areas

Additional principles:

This is similar to information as outlined in the personal hygiene section. However, reminders are important as anything can easily find its way into food:

Remember to keep all food covered and labelled when it is stored

Wear no jewellery, anything nail related or false eye lashes

Wash all salad items thoroughly before preparation of food and check it a number of times

When storing food deliveries make sure all items are places on shelves and not the floor

Wear vinyl gloves when preparing food

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Clothing

Uniforms, aprons, and garments should be clean when beginning a shift and change regularly when necessary

Employees should not wear uniforms or aprons outside of the food preparation area

Avoid wearing damaged or worn out uniforms, aprons or garments

Personal clothing should not be worn in the working area

Uniform of any kind should not be worn travelling to and from work

Storage facilities and changing amenities should be provided for the overall benefit of the business

Dirty clothing items should be stored in a laundry bag and away from food preparation areas

Educate yourself on the reasons of uniform and protective clothing

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Personal Hygiene

Keep your hair in a neat and tidy state, and where provided wear a hairnet in the presence of food

Wear clean protective clothing when interacting with food

Keep fingernails trimmed and do not wear artificial nails or fingernail polish

Utilise single-use gloves for handling and preparing food; this will help to prevent contamination with frequent changing

If using multi-use gloves make sure they are washed, sanitised and rinsed between uses

Remove all jewellery from hands and arms

Make sure to keep all cuts, grazes and sores bandaged up with an easily identifiable coloured band-aid

Showering on a daily basis will help to prevent pathogens from skin and hair coming into contact with food

What do you do when suffering from ailments and illnesses that may be a hazard to food safety?

The first step is to not panic when feeling sick in the working environment

Common ailments which people suffer from that effect the safety of food are vomiting and diarrhoea

Report to a supervisor in the event of suffering from any ailment or illness

It is better that you remain absent while sick rather than be around areas of food preparation

If you do suffer from diarrhoea or vomiting, you should not return to work until 48 hours after the symptoms have cleared

When working in any environment with food maintaining a high standard of hand-washing is extremely important. The diagram below outlines the best way to wash your hands and ensure you are safe to interact with food.

You should wash your hands frequently (every 20 minutes) or after the following occurrences:

Before beginning or recommencing work

After using the toilet

Before handling cooked foods

When handling or preparing raw food

After touching bins or handling rubbish

After smoking

When you cough, sneeze, touch bare skin etc. Moreover, you are better off using disposable tissues rather than a handkerchief

After cleaning, interacting with people and handling money

The best means of washing your hands is with hot soapy water.

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Checklist Example

The template below is an example of a checklist that might be filled out on a daily basis in the work environment. This helps the business to keep consistent and detailed records in order to make sure that company procedures are being adhered to and hazards avoided.