Why Your Staff Need Their Food Handlers Certificate

Your Staff need to have an accredited Food Handlers Certificate, (SITXFSA101 Workplace Hygiene Procedures Course) and a FSS or Food Safety Supervisor (SITXFSA101 and SITXFSA201 Food Safety Supervisor Course) to protect both your company income and your consumer’s health.

It only takes a few unsatisfied customers to make a complaint about any of the points listed below, for the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ Food Authority to send out representatives to audit your business.

• Food which has used ingredients which are unsafe – such as food which may have been open to vermin
• Suspected food poisoning
• A lack of proper and hygienic handling of food, how a food is stored and how it has been prepared – food which is handled by staff with unclean hands or fingernails, or cooked and uncooked chicken which has been placed touching each other
• If a foreign object has been found in the food
• Food which has begun to ruin – such as food which is mouldy or meat which begun to decay

One of the Food Authority’s heaviest penalties and fines is against;

1. not having an appointed Food Safety Supervisor in all commercial food preparation establishments
2. not having a copy of an up-to-date certificate to prove your Food Safety Supervisor is accredited.

According to the Food Authority Guidelines, ‘issue of a penalty notice for any of the below offences can be up to $330 for an individual (eg sole trader) and $660 for a registered company.’

Sydney (Food businesses who don’t have staff correctly accredited with their Food Handlers Certificate are not only risking heavy penalties, their business will be listed on the NSW Department of Primary Industries – Food Authority’s Name and Shame Register. The Name and Shame Register is an extremely easy to use list of food based businesses that have been served with penalty notices for not complying with the Food Authority’s regulations. Prospective customers can quickly check the Name and Shame register, by name or suburb, to see if an establishment has received any penalty notices for not having safe food practises.

Ultimately Food Hygiene is the responsibility of the owner/manager of a commercial food supplier. It is up to you to make sure you only have staff who are fully qualified with the Food Handlers Certificate – SITXFSA101 Workplace Hygiene Procedures Course accreditation. And who are strictly supervised by an overseer who also has their Food Handlers Certificate as well as their SITXFSA201 Food Safety Supervisor Course.

If any of your food preparation staff don’t have an up-to-date Food Handlers Certificate, and their isn’t an accredited Food Safety Supervisor making sure all safety and hygiene procedures are being followed you could be placing them, your business and the wider community at risk. Contact our professional consultants at Training Aid for more information about our Workplace Hygiene Food Safety Course, Food Safety Supervisor and for Discounts for Group Training we offer.

*This blog is general in nature and is ONLY meant to give readers an overview of the subject matter. Do NOT rely on this information for your specific needs. If you are planning to hold one of Training Aid’s Food Handler and Food Safety Supervisor courses, we highly recommend that you concerning your SPECIFIC requirements