Find out what you need to do to manage food safety and requirements for supervising and training staff.
Staff Supervision and Training
You must make sure that any member of staff who handles food is supervised and instructed and trained in food hygiene in a way that is appropriate for the work they do.
When you hire a member of staff, you should make sure they understand the main food hygiene issues before they start work.
The person or people responsible for developing and maintaining your business’s food safety management procedures must have received adequate training to enable them to do this. The requirements for training should be seen in the context of the nature and size of the business.
Food Hygiene Training Courses
There is no legal requirement to attend a formal training course or get a qualification, although many businesses may want their staff to do so. You can download a list of local training providers in PDF format below.
You can find out about the types of courses available and search a national course directory on the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) website. Level 2 Awards in Food Safety for Catering or Retail have replaced the Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene.
The necessary skills could also be obtained in other ways, such as through on the job training, self-study or relevant prior experience.
The operator of the food business is responsible for ensuring this happens. It is a good idea to keep a record of any training you or your staff have done, because then you will be able to show this to enforcement officers when they visit your premises.
Food Safety Training Resources
Safer Food, Better Business Packs and industry guides to good hygiene practice can be helpful to train you and your staff.
A free DVD with voiceovers in 16 languages is available to help train staff in key areas. The DVD will be especially useful in training people who do not understand very much English, or have low literacy levels.
Our Food Hygiene for Caterers section has an introduction to the '4 C's' of food hygiene - cleaning, cooking, chilling and cross-contamination - and advice on personal hygiene, hand washing and high risk foods.
