Need for Training & Education in Food Facility

The recent era has seen various food-borne-related disease breakout that has threaten the public health in the global level. For anyone involved in the processing or handling of food products, it is necessary to have Food Safety Training. And this is not mandatory from a performance and competency viewpoint but rather it is a legal complaint. Reason is simple, no unskilled or untrained person should handle food products. Risk in the involvement of unskilled handlers is hygiene and quality issues. A person having no to low knowledge of handling process will make low quality, an unhygienic product which can cause serious health issues to consumers. The good practices from training, prevent customers from suffering food poisoning and allergic reaction, minimize food waste and make food premises a pleasant and safe place to work.

It also needs to be kept in mind that there is no direct link between training, knowledge, and practice. It is important that management supports the training of their employees and the provided training is relevant to what everyday job role. The commercial advantage to any manufacturing firm from having skilled and trained employees is competitive and profitable approach, high-performance standard and production of safe and legally complained food product.

Role of Management  

Any food handling business looking for success needs to give equal importance to food safety training as given to production. Management needs to understand that failure in food safety leads to cost money, damage reputation, and threaten long-term health of the business. Initiating and providing workers with food safety training is an effective way of letting them know about the food safety duties, which helps in ensuring that food reaching customers are safe. An organization having trained workers and making them aware of this fact to their prospective customers, make them feel confident about the foods they eat. Employers need to understand the positive and necessary value of safety training programs and hire trained workers or providing training to hired workers.

Practically it is very important to decide the length and area of training to get a better results, as some might require more intense training, while a short brief to some might work depending on the engagement of employees to food manufacturing.

How Food Safety Training Helps!

1. Reduction in Food Waste– Production of quality product consistently, proves foods suitable for consumption. Training teaches proper handling of food products with minimum waste, saving time and money of manufacturer.
2. Boosting Efficiency- When staff knows nothing of hygienic handling of food there will be haphazard in the processing of food. Chaos will always lead to errors. Training to workers helps understand and improve work activities among themselves, as a result, efficiency is maintained.  
3. Faithful Customer– When an organization works on building good hygienic practices in the facility, the superior quality of the product itself opens the market and consumers tend to trust it.
4. Legal Compliance– Law related to food safety requires that all handlers have sound knowledge of food safety-related issues and how to combat the situation. How processing, storage, cleaning techniques, handling, etc. in the facility help reaching the required food safety.
5. Limiting cross-contamination– It is highly possible that cases of cross-contamination can be observed if the workers are not made aware of the issues related to cross-contamination. Providing training shall help workers to avoid such incidents.   

Responsibility of Food Safety Supervisor

Food Safety Supervisor is responsible for ensuring total compliance with all codes and standards of food safety. Keeping up with safety plans up to date and ensuring workers are keeping records. Planning is an important part of supervision. Identifying and performing checks for safety breaches in an organization, and properly training all employees on food safety standards are also involved in the job description.

It is important to link and associate training, area of training, duration, and practice of food safety in plant after training. This shall help and provide understanding to inconsistency on the effectiveness of training on food handlers. Food safety training courses should focus on the area of work and needs of employees. It is an important step in increasing understanding of the role of different food safety training components in determining the effectiveness of training on food handlers’ knowledge and behavior.