Describe The Importance Of Food Handling

Hands should be dried properly on a disposable towel. Bacteria can spread more easily on damp hands and use the disposable towel to turn off the tap.

A separate sink is needed for equipment washing and the washing of food with drinking quality water. In my place of work, we use two sinks. One is for equipment washing, all equipment is washed first then put into the dishwasher and we have sink for ready to eat foods such as vegetables and salad items.

Staff changing facilities

It is important that employees have somewhere to change from their outdoor clothing to their work clothes like a staff room or lockers. To avoid contamination clothing and handbags must not be stored in a food preparation area.

Food waste and refuse disposal

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It is important to implement, manage and apply good hygiene practices. An understanding of legislation and regulations is essential and it is my responsibility to make sure staff members are fully complying. All employees must adhere to operational requirements and report any problems to management.

Every person working in a food handling area must maintain a high level of personal cleanliness. Staff members should have hair tied up, wear no jewellery, only a watch and a wedding band. They should not touch their face and hair. Spit, sneeze and eat when they are handling food. Employees must be fit to work and must not enter a food handling area or prepare food if they are suffering from sickness and diarrhoea, have infected wounds or carrying a disease which can be passed through food. Employees can only return to work after 48 hours if they have had a gastric

Walls, floors and doors must be smooth and non-absorbent so that they are easy to clean and disinfect. The method we use for effective sanitation, is firstly wiping down with a clean damp cloth using hot water and detergent. This is to remove food debris and dirt. Next, we spray disinfectant and leave for two minutes, then wiping dry with a disposable towel. This kills bacteria and viruses and must be applied to a visibly clean surface. A cleaning schedule is an essential part of your HACCP plan and must be kept up to date at all times. It is critical that all staff are trained in cleaning procedures, this includes the correct disinfection techniques and dilution of chemicals. Staff need to be aware of what PPE (personal protective equipment) they need to use when dealing with hazardous substances and will find all the information they need on COSHH (control of substances hazardous to health) sheets. In my workplace this information is kept in the chemical cabinet. Effective disinfection helps reduce the risk of cross contamination. It is important as part of your cross-contamination controls to use separate equipment and have a separate preparation area for raw meats and poultry. It is good practice to use colour coded chopping boards for different