Food hygiene and safety training is a key component in empowering healthcare workers in the provision of safe nutrition to patients in hospital and care settings, giving them a thorough understanding of how to prepare and manage food safely. Clear risks exist with contaminated and unsafe food, particularly with regards vulnerable or weakened individuals. Alhough there is now much greater awareness of matters such as proper handwashing techniques (particularly since Covid) and sanitation, foodborne illnesses still prove to be a major problem in some organisations, particularly where insufficient training or staff awareness is prevalent.
Food safety makes reference to the critical procedures that organisations should follow when preparing,processing, cooking and handling food. There are many possible contaminants in food which can cause harm to patients, such as (a) biological agents, e.g bacteria, fungi and viruses (b) chemical agents such as cleaning products (c) items that might appear in foods but which are known to be allergenic and whichneed to be flagged accordingly, such as peanuts or milk.
Food hygiene training is legally required for people whose work involves the management and preparation of food. Proper supervision, instruction and training in food hygiene is essential for such staff to be able to do their job safely.
One of the most important aspects of such training is to make staff aware of the dangers of food-borne illnesses which can occur from poor storage, undercooking, insufficient personal hygiene or contaminated food preparation surfaces or equipment. Employees need to understand how they themselves contribute to food hygiene and safety in the workplace through their daily work practice and behaviour. This in turn raises their awareness of how they can help prevent harm to the health of patients and individuals under their care.
Good training and usage of food safety rules improves efficiency across the board. Not only that but employees who receive food hygiene and safety training feel more confident and able to complete their tasks without errors or issues. The training also ensures that because staff learn about good food handling and storage practices,they reduce the amount of wastage, which helps save time and money.
On the flipside, poor efficiency in food preparation settings is often due to a lack of training, or insufficient training. When staff know how to work hygienically and improve food storage and preparation methods, relevant processes flow better, and staff morale is improved, which helps feed back into better processes, not least because staff who know how to work safely around food tend to be better motivated and take better care of what they’re doing due to their awareness of the risks.
There are other clear business benefits to food safety and hygiene training. One obvious benefit is that it helps to create a positive reputation for the business or organisation. If everyone knows that the food being processed, prepared, stored and cooked is safe and made in a clean and hygienic environment, it can have a powerful positive effect on the way the business or organisation is perceived, not only by patients but in the wider community.
So, you can see how a good level of training in food hygiene awareness is not only advisable, it is critically important in settings where weak or vulnerable people rely on being provided with food which has been stored, prepared and cooked safely.
Get in touch with us if you’re interested in our Food Hygiene Awareness training course. Phone 01291 624451 or email info@aci.training. We look forward to hearing from you!
