This should be ongoing for new as well as experienced staff. Explain why it is so important to ensure food safety and how lapses in it could mean a serious incident and may result in someone getting seriously sick, meaning in the worst case, that your business closes.
People don’t like being told what to do without knowing why. So, instead of simply instructing the staff to wash hands, explain why they should wash their hands after handling raw meat and between preparing salad leaves - because it can mean the transfer of dangerous bacteria to the salad which will make your guests sick.
Enable them to make decisions themselves, for example, to refuse potentially unsafe food from suppliers on arrival. If food isn’t safe, for example, the temperature is over your legal requirement, it will either make someone sick or be wasted later. The best filter is your staff which could prevent mishaps in time.
This is a way to check your system is working and employees are complying with the procedures. Self-inspections by you or a trained senior employee can be effective as hiring an external (third-party) inspector. Sometimes an outsider can see things you miss and you can learn a lot from this experience.
Make clear instructions. Remind all your staff that even small mistakes in a procedure can end up in a sick or dead guest. For example, a dish sponge should not be used to wipe a dirty floor and they must wash their hands after going to the bathroom or smoking.
Creating a food safety culture doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. It’s a matter of habit and will be a sure way that your restaurant is one in which food is safe and enjoyable to eat. But do ask for help. Check what service or advice is available from your local authority or wholesaler. Some may even have special deals with local hygiene inspection services or laboratories that can help you establish a system or improve your existing one.
How you manage unused food and the remains of meals is an important consideration. For example, depending on how it was used, unused bread can be reused in a different meal in the form of breadcrumbs or could be composted, or thrown away. How you deal with this means different considerations on food safety as well as the amount of waste you generate.
Especially since the outbreak of COVID 19, food delivery and take-away has picked up momentum. Strong containers that keep food free of contamination and are easy to dispose of, are needed. Compostable containers are a good alternative and if you can use a returnable container scheme, check how the containers are cleaned.
Usually, subcontractors look after ancillary tasks such as delivery and pest control. They must ensure that their practices do not endanger the safety of food. Delivery drivers, for example, must ensure food is transported at the right temperature at the right time. Pest control subcontractors must ensure that the placement of their devices and chemicals used do not pose a risk of contamination in your kitchen. When your subcontractors are aware of your requirements, they may have ideas to offer. Some pest subcontractors are changing the way they catch pests to limit the use of harmful chemicals in the environment.
As a restaurant manager, you are responsible for the overall supervision of your FSMS (food safety management system). The FSMS needs to be documented and this means keeping up-to-date and accurate records. This also means doing checks - you or a responsible member of staff on your behalf - conducts the opening and closing checks, any on-top checks, and ensures that “prove it” documentation (such as cleaning and training records) are completed. When you have a system already established to manage food safety, it is easier to include checks necessary in other sustainability aspects. Recording the status of a new process and monitoring its progress is another part of managing sustainability, for example, energy usage.
To verify that your food safety system is working, you might want to have it checked independently. There are professional service providers, who can tailor inspection and analysis programs for your premises. Having this external input is a way for you to improve, and an endorsement that your food safety management is working plus an additional assurance you can give to your guests. Similar services exist in sustainability management although these are not as common. Ask your local authority or wholesaler for their recommendations.
Areas for washing up, garbage bins or vegetable processing should be separated from clean areas. It helps to manage the flow of waste and ensure the correct waste is recycled or reused. For example, clean rinse water can be used to water your garden if you have one.
A professional cleaning program that is specific to your premises, uses the right chemicals with the correct dosage, and suitable for the correct equipment, not only gets things clean but also prevents damage to your local environment from excessive chemicals which add to your costs. Taking a step further, you might consider environmentally- friendly cleaning chemicals. When you clean as you go, you prevent a build-up of waste and reduce the risk of contaminating clean areas by overflowing bins, for instance. Clearly labelled containers in a separated area make it easier to recycle or reuse waste.
Set a good example for your employees to follow. Show that you are strongly committed to food safety and emphasize that you expect the same from your team. Simple things, for example, washing your hands when you enter the kitchen speaks volumes about how you expect your staff to act.
Ensure your kitchen has the necessary tools to safely prepare and serve food. For example, food thermometers that are easily accessible mean that employees will more easily be able to check food temperatures.
Make an impact with responsible sourcing and only use responsibly sourced fish and food that is organic, nutritious, seasonal, ethically traded, local and regional. Moreover, try to buy foods that encourage biodiversity, do not involve waste and do not destroy forests. If you want to find out more, go to the responsible sourcing chapter.
When record keeping is part of the regular routine, for example, taking the temperature of foods at specific times, and it is given due priority, there are better chances of adherence. Consider using a digital app that can support record keeping. Young employees will start to expect such digitization and long-serving employees will be happy to learn a new skill.