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Posted By Tracey Thompson
In Primary schools, does anyone know whether it is a requirement for general teaching staff to hold a basic hygiene certificate for teaching children basic cookery skills such as making bicuits and bread etc? I would expect canteen and kitchen staff to have this qualification but schools may not expect their teachers to qualify in this and so it would be useful to know the regs on this.
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Posted By Dave Wilson
As an EX EHO dont think there is but must be part of their qualification to become a teacher in this subject, I wold ask the Local Env Health Dept Food Section, remember this is for teaching school pupils to prepare,cook and present food not for preparing and selling food to the public so dont know if food hygiene regs apply (not a commercial activity)
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Posted By Peter J Harvey
I would agree with this, the key to the Food Safety Act is offering or rendering for sale, in a school class room you would not be doing either (Unless you made food for an open day or event). The Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regs back this up with requirements being for every food business to ensure appropriate training.
I would be more concerned with the Common Law Duty of Care, if you can ensure that all staff have covered basic food hygiene (to a modern standard) in their own training, this may be enough. Could you argue a "due Diligence" defence?
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Posted By Bill Elliott
The training should be comensurate with the level of involvement with food and the risk. It may be that local instruction will be all that is necessary however, the food safety risk assessment will identify the level of risk and the controls necessary to minimise the risks particularly at those points "critical for ensuring food safety". The whole point of the Food Safety Act was to ensure food safety "from farm to plate" (and every point in between). Selling is not important - if food is available - it must be protected. I would agree that kitchen staff would need the basic certificate AT THE VERY LEAST - supervisory staff or those with managerial responsibility for food safety also need to be trained - so they are aware of the risks and how to prevent problems occuring.
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Posted By Dave Wilson
Remember thsi is about 'general Teaching' in primary schools not about School kitchens or dinner ladies etc.
no commercial activity is undertaken so the FHGR do not apply, may be worthwhile asking the head teacher what the policy is but would still ask the LA EH Dept?
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Posted By Ian Minty
It does not matter whether the food is for sale or not.
There is still a "duty of care" to ensure the children are not poisoned. To ensure that this is not the case, all our primary teachers who teach cooking are put through a basic food hygiene course.
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Posted By Dave Wilson
Is that in your LEA or is this general practice throught the teaching profession?
If so it may answer Tracey's question.
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Posted By Ian Minty
This is what we do in our area.
We are particularly tight on food safety in our primary schools after a pupil was allowed to take in "some of granny's goat cheese" for everyone to sample.
This ended with around 40 pupils and staff with e-coli and an HSE prosecution.
So we thought that it would be prudent to train teachers basic food hygiene and increase their awareness of high risk foodstuffs and suitable suppliers etc.
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Posted By Tracey Thompson
Thank you very much for all your responses, they have been very helpful.
Tracey
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