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Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council,
Town Hall, Coton Road,
Nuneaton, Warwickshire,
CV11 5AA.

Tel: 024 7637 6376

Food Matters

Spud's Down to Earth Advice on...

SUPERVISION, INSTRUCTION & TRAINING OF FOOD HANDLERS

The proprietor of a food business must ensure that food handlers engaged in the food business are supervised and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters commensurate with their work activities.
A 'food handler' is defined as 'any person involved in a food business who handles or prepares food whether open (unwrapped) or packaged'.

So What Is Required?

The supervision/instruction/training needed relates to the actual job of the individual and will be dependant on the degree of food product handling and on the type/nature of the food product itself. For example, staff who handle 'high risk' foods will need more supervision/instruction/training than those handling 'low risk' foods.

Special arrangements may have to be made for persons whose first language is not English and/or persons with learning or literacy difficulties.

A guidance note on the assessment of supervision/ instruction/training of food handlers has been prepared by the Council - see links below.

Stages of Supervision & Instruction and/or Training

In the Industry Guides, three stages of supervision/instruction/training have been identified, relevant to different categories of food handler, as follows:

Stage 1 - The Essentials of Food Hygiene
Stage 2 - Hygiene Awareness Instruction
Stage 3 - Formal training

The guides also describe three categories of food handlers (termed A, B & C) (see below) who must be supervised and instructed and/or trained. Non food-handling staff may need some instruction or training as a matter of good practice.

Training of food handlers beyond the legal requirement may be carried out as a matter of good practice as their careers develop and they take on extra responsibility.

Supervision and Instruction

The proprietor should ensure that all staff are appropriately supervised and given sufficient instruction such that their work involving food is carried out hygienically. As regards supervision, such needs may be greater for:

new staff awaiting formal training
staff handling high risk foods
less experienced staff

Even if staff have received formal (certificated) training, the requirement for adequate supervision remains; the extent and type of supervision will always be dependent upon the competence and experience of individual food handlers.

Where a food business/operation employs only one or two people supervision may not be practical. In such cases, training must be sufficient to allow work to be unsupervised as required.

Training

Industry Guides suggest appropriate training to be as follows:

Category A Staff - for example, those staff handling low risk or wrapped food only e.g. bar staff, waiters, delivery drivers etc. Recommended level of training:

Essentials of Food Hygiene (before starting)
Hygiene Awareness Instruction (within four weeks)
Formal Training to Level 2 in Catering/Food Retailing/Food Manufacturing (good practice within 3 months of appointment)

Category B Staff- for example, food handlers handling or preparing high risk open foods e.g. chefs, cooks, kitchen assistants, servery staff. Recommended level of training:

Essentials of Food Hygiene (before starting)
Hygiene Awareness Instruction (within four weeks)
Formal Training to Level 2 in Catering/Food Retailing/Food Manufacturing (good practice within 3 months of appointment)

Category C Staff- for example, food handlers with a supervisory role i.e. managers or supervisors who handle food. Recommended level of training:

Essentials of Food Hygiene (before starting)
Hygiene Awareness Instruction (within four weeks of starting)
Formal Training to Level 2 in Catering/Food Retailing/Food Manufacturing (good practice within 3 months of appointment)
Formal Training to Level 3 in Catering/Food Retailing/Food Manufacturing (good practice)

Note: Formal training to Level 4 in Catering/Food Retailing/Food Manufacturing (perhaps together with HACCP training) is advised where food activities and risks are such that training to this level would make a useful contribution to the control of those risks.

Industry Guides set out good practice for food businesses and it is recommended tha

View/Download Food Hygiene Information
PDF

Food Hygiene Essentials pdf (15 KB)
PDF

Hygiene Awareness Instruction pdf (37 KB)

View/Download Additional Information

Guidance on the Training etc. of Food Handlers pdf (117 KB)

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