What is the standard that states an employees responsibilities regarding health when working with food?

Inhaltsverzeichnis Show

Food handlers – personal hygiene tips
Food handlers – handwashing
Food handler health and working
Food handlers – skills and knowledge
Food handlers – training
Personal Hygiene
Business Owner
Food Safety Supervisor
Food Handlers
The Role of Government
Federal Government
State And Territory Authorities
Local Government

Personal hygiene is important to prevent food poisoning.
When handling food, wash your hands thoroughly and often.
If you are sick, do not go to work, because you can contaminate food more easily.
Food handlers should be properly trained in safe food handling.

Good personal hygiene can prevent food poisoning.

Bacteria that cause food poisoning can be on everyone – even healthy people. You can spread bacteria from yourself to the food if you touch your nose, mouth, hair or your clothes, and then food.

Good personal hygiene also makes good business sense. Customers like to see food-handling staff who take hygiene seriously and practise safe food handling.

Watch how your co-workers handle food and consider it from a customer’s point of view. Would you want to eat at, or buy food from, the place you work?

Food handlers – personal hygiene tips

To prevent food poisoning using good personal hygiene, follow these tips:

wash and dry your hands thoroughly before handling food, and wash and dry them again frequently during work
dry your hands with a clean towel, disposable paper towel or under an air dryer
never smoke, chew gum, spit, change a baby’s nappy or eat in a food handling or food storage area
never cough or sneeze over food, or where food is being prepared or stored
wear clean protective clothing, such as an apron
keep your spare clothes and other personal items (including mobile phones) away from where food is stored and prepared
tie back or cover long hair
keep fingernails short so they are easy to clean, and don’t wear nail polish because it can chip into the food
avoid wearing jewellery, or only wear plain-banded rings and sleeper earrings
completely cover all cuts and wounds with a wound strip or bandage (brightly coloured waterproof bandages are recommended)
wear disposable gloves over the top of the wound strip if you have wounds on your hands
change disposable gloves regularly
advise your supervisor if you feel unwell, and don’t handle food.

Food handlers – handwashing

Thoroughly washing your hands reduces the chance of contaminating food with bacteria from yourself.

Wash your hands with soap and warm water, and don’t forget the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails.

Thoroughly dry your hands immediately after you wash them. Always dry your hands with a clean towel, disposable paper towel or under an air dryer. The important thing is to make sure your hands are completely dry. Never use a tea towel or your clothes to dry your hands.

Wash your hands after:

going to the toilet
handling raw food
blowing your nose
handling garbage
touching your ears, nose, mouth or other parts of the body
smoking
every break
handling animals.

If you are wearing disposable gloves, change them regularly – at the same times you would normally wash your hands if you weren’t wearing gloves. Wash and dry your hands before putting on gloves.

Food handler health and working

Food handlers may contaminate food, so employers and employees must be careful to ensure that no illness is passed on by those working in the industry.

You should not go work if you are vomiting or have diarrhoea. Don’t return to work until your symptoms have stopped for 48 hours. If you are unsure, you should contact your doctor for advice.

Do not go to work if you sick with an illness that is likely to be transmitted through food. Such illnesses include gastroenteritis (often called ‘gastro’) – including viral gastroenteritis (norovirus or rotavirus) – hepatitis A and hepatitis E, sore throat with fever, and fever with jaundice.

You must advise your supervisor if you are feeling unwell, including when suffering from a cold, flu, and sties and other eye infections.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand explains the requirements for food handlers and food businesses.

Food handlers – skills and knowledge

Food handlers need to know how their actions can affect the safety of the food they handle.

Food handlers need to know:

how to locate and follow workplace information
about their own food handling operations
how to identify and correct (or report) situations or procedures that do not meet the business' food safety obligations
who to report food safety issues to within the business
their responsibilities in relation to health and hygiene requirements.

The Australian Food Safety Standard 3.2.2 (Food Safety Practices and General Requirements) requires that people who handle food must have the appropriate skills and knowledge for the work they do.

Food handlers – training

Everyone working in a food premises are encouraged to be trained in safe food handling. DoFoodSafely , a free online learning program, is a good place to start.

Reviewed 22 November 2021

Any individual who handles food as part of their position has multiple responsibilities. Food that has been incorrectly handled carries with it a higher risk of contamination, which has the ability to cause serious illness and in some cases even death.

Whether preparing food that will be sold or given away, food handlers should be able to do everything possible to ensure that the food does not make anyone sick. Consumers have a right to feel safe eating food when they go out and making it compulsory for food handlers to be trained, is one way to achieve this.

Illness

If a food handler is unwell and experiencing any foodborne illness related symptoms – vomiting, diarrhea, fever or sore throat – they must advise their supervisor. The Food Safety Standards Code also says they “must not handle any food where there is a chance they might make the food unsafe or unsuitable because of their illness. Also, if a food handler stays on at work to do other work, he or she must do everything reasonable to make sure that they do not contaminate any food.”

Furthermore, if a food handler experiences any symptoms that could cause them to contaminate food through their bodily fluids, they must also cease work immediately. Cuts, boils and open sores must be completely covered up with waterproof dressings before the food handler can return to their duties and performs any task with food.

Personal Hygiene

Another way that a food handler can reduce the risk of causing contamination is maintaining a high level of personal hygiene. Biological contamination refers to any biological hazard, such as bacteria, viruses, yeasts, molds and parasites that are transmitted to food.

According to the Food Safety Standards Code, the most important things food handlers need to know are that they must:

do whatever is reasonable to prevent their body, anything from their body or anything they are wearing, come into contact with food or food contact surfaces;
do whatever is reasonable to stop unnecessary contact with ready-to-eat food;
wear clean outer clothing, depending on the type of work they do;
make sure bandages or dressings on any exposed parts of the body are covered with a waterproof covering;
not eat over unprotected food or surfaces likely to come in contact with food;
not sneeze, blow or cough over unprotected food or surfaces likely to come into contact with food;
not spit, smoke or use tobacco or similar preparations where food is handled; and
not urinate or defecate except in a toilet.

Hand washing is one of the most effective ways for food handlers to help reduce the risk of contamination. To ensure that you are properly washing your hands you are encouraged to follow these 6 steps:

Wet your hands under clean running water
Apply soap to your palm
Lather soap and scrub over back and front of both hands up to wrists
Rinse off soap with clean running water
Turn off tap, if possible without using your hands
Dry hands with a disposable towel or an air dryer

According to FSANZ, Australia ranks fourth in the world in food safety. However, the daily number of food poisoning cases in Australia is estimated at 11,500, with the rate of salmonella increasing 80 per cent over the past decade and gastroenteritis surging 75 per cent in the same time.

In fact, 120 people die of food poisoning in Australia each year. Food safety is everyone’s responsibility.

In this article, we’ll present a guide to help you understand your role and responsibility in establishing high quality, clean and safe food in Australia, and who to contact if you need help interpreting the Food Standards Code.

Business Owner

A food business’ owner has a legal responsibility to its customers’ welfare to protect their health and safety.

A business owner must:

Notify the local council with details of their food business
Ensure the business complies with the Food Standards Code
Ensure the food business is protected by a Food Safety Supervisor who is reasonably available at all times
Appoint a Food Safety Supervisor from the time food is first handled and sold
Keep the Food Safety Supervisor Statement of Attainment on premises as evidence of the food business’ commitment to food safety
Appoint a new Food Safety Supervisor within 30 operational days (i.e. days that food is processed and sold) of the Food Safety Supervisor leaving or ceasing to act in that role
Have a Food Safety Plan and food safety processes in place
Ensure all Food Handlers are adequately trained
Ensure the Food Safety Supervisor has a reasonable time in each day to contribute to FSS tasks and duties

Food Safety Supervisor

A Food Safety Supervisor is an employee, licensee, manager, or external contractor nominated by a food business to manage its food safety. A business manager can also nominate themselves to perform the role of Food Safety Supervisor.

A Food Safety Supervisor has an array of duties which relate to maintaining and improving a business’ food safety. To responsibly manage a business’ food safety, a Food Safety Supervisor must:

Demonstrate the authority to act as a Food Safety Supervisor with a Statement of Attainment from a nationally registered RTO
Supervise staff in food handling to ensure compliance with food safety regulations
Manage the food business’ Food Safety Plan and Food Safety Program
If away, ensure the food business is protected and maintains high standards of food safety in their absence

A Food Safety Supervisor is a business’ food safety encyclopaedia and should keep up to date on changes to food safety regulations.

Find out more about the role of a Food Safety Supervisor.

Food Handlers

A Food Handler is a person who directly engages in the handling or preparation of food. Food Handlers also include staff who handle or deliver food.

Food Handlers must:

Have skills and knowledge relevant to their food duties
Follow the protocol set by the Food Safety Supervisor
Take all reasonable measures to maintain food integrity and keep customers safe

Find out what training a Food Handler needs in Australia.

The Role of Government

Federal Government

In Australia, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) develops and manages the Food Standards Code, which documents legal requirements for additives, nutrition, storage, labelling, and GM foods.

State And Territory Authorities

Australian Capital Territory

ACT Health – Health Protection Service

New South Wales

New South Wales Food Authority

Northern Territory

Northern Territory Department of Health

Queensland

Victoria

South Australia

Tasmania

Department of Health and Human Services – Food Safety

Western Australia

Western Australia Department of Health – Food Unit

These state and territory authorities enforce and interpret the Food Standards Code, investigating:

Food‐borne illness
Foreign matter in food
Food composition
Labelling of food products
Misleading conduct by food businesses
Food safety issues in State Government food businesses

Local Government

Local councils enforce the legislation and policies set by:

Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) who represent local councils can enter a food business and perform a health inspection at any time to check that a business is operating within safe boundaries.

Local councils regulate: