Food handlers and food safety

The food safety standards (external site) contained within the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (Code) require food businesses to ensure that:

• food handlers and
• supervisors of food handlers

have the skills and knowledge they need to handle food safely adequate with the activities being undertaken.

This means that food handlers and supervisors must have the:

• skills to do those tasks that are necessary to ensure the safety of the food being handled and 
• knowledge of food safety and hygiene matters.

For example, a food handler who is responsible for cooling cooked food must have the knowledge that the food must be cooled within a certain time to ensure it remains safe, and the skills to do this (such as by placing the food in shallow containers for cooling).

There are many options that a food business can choose from to ensure that food handlers and supervisors obtain the skills and knowledge required to produce safe food.

Examples of these include:

• in-house training
• providing copies of relevant documentation to employees
• having operating procedures in place that clarify the responsibilities of food handlers and supervisors
• attendance at food safety courses run by local governments or other training organisations
• completion of online food safety training courses
• hiring a consultant to present a course formal training courses

It is up to the food business to choose the most appropriate option, provided it results in the food handlers having the required skills and knowledge. For example, on-the-job training may be suitable where a food handler is able to teach others the necessary skills and knowledge, whilst more complex, technical or higher risk food handling activities may require formal training.

Online or face to face training options

Further information on food safety and hygiene courses are available on the National Register of VET (Vocational Education and Training) website (external site).

Many local government Environmental Health Services offer access to training for food handlers. You should contact the local government where your business is located for further advice.

Applying skills and knowledge

In addition to initial training it is important that food businesses continue to make sure that food handlers are applying their skills and knowledge. This is necessary to ensure that your food business complies with the requirements of the Food Safety Standards in the Code.

Maintain a record of staff training

It is recommended that a food business maintains records of staff who have completed food handler training and ensure a copy is available at the business for assessment by an authorised officer as required.

Legal requirement

It is important for a food business to be familiar with the legal requirements for food handlers specified in the Code.

Further information

• Food Safety: Skills and knowledge for food businesses (PDF 1 MB) a guide to help proprietors in small food businesses understand the legal requirement for skills and knowledge in food safety and food hygiene related to Standard 3.2.2
• Food Safety Standards (Chapter 3) (external site)
• FSANZ Safe Food Australia - A guide to the food safety standards (external site)

If you are a food handler, making sure you don’t contaminate food through illness or poor personal habits is very important to keep food safe to eat.

It is important that you follow safe food handling instructions from your employer, for example following food handling procedures at work, or applying food safety skills and knowledge that you have been taught.

When handling food, you need to do whatever you can to make sure you do not make food unsafe or unsuitable. This includes:

Be clean and careful

• wash and dry hands thoroughly stop anything from your body or anything you are wearing from contaminating food or food contact surface, for example hair, clothes, jewellery or phone (e.g. tie hair back, remove loose jewellery, cover open sores)
• where possible don’t touch ready-to-eat food with bare hands - use tongs or gloves, or ensure you wash your hands before if you must touch ready-to-eat food
• wear clean clothing and aprons
• do not eat, spit, smoke, sneeze, blow or cough over food or surfaces that touch food.

You need to tell your supervisor if you think you are sick or have contaminated food in any way.

Wash your hands properly

• use the sink provided just for hand washing
• wet your hands under warm running water
• lather them with soap and thoroughly scrub fingers, palms, wrists, back of hands and under nails for about 15 seconds
• rinse hands under warm running water
• turn off taps using a paper towel or elbow
• thoroughly dry your hands with a single-use towel.

When to wash your hands

• before you start handling food or go back to handling food after other tasks
• before working with ready-to-eat food after handling raw food
• after using the toilet
• after smoking, coughing, sneezing, using a handkerchief or tissue, eating or drinking
• after touching your hair, scalp, nose, etc.
• after doing anything else that could make your hands dirty, like handling garbage, touching animals or children, or cleaning duties.

What if I’m sick?

Some illnesses can be passed to people through food – these are called foodborne illnesses (e.g. gastro and hepatitis A).

If you know or think you have a foodborne illness (e.g. you have vomiting, diarrhoea or fever):

• tell your supervisor
• do not handle food if it’s likely to become contaminated
• only return to food handling when a doctor says you are well enough (usually 48 hours after symptoms have stopped).

Legal requirement

As a food handler there are certain health and hygiene legal requirements that you must comply:

Further information

• FSANZ Health and hygiene – advice for food handlers (PDF 143 KB)

A food business must take measures to ensure that food handlers don’t contaminate food, these include:

• ensure that food handlers do not handle food if they are known or suspected to be carrying a foodborne disease, and only allow them to resume food handling once their doctor advises that they can 
• maintain easily accessible handwashing facilities with supplies of warm running water, soap and single-use paper towels, and ensure that they are only used for handwashing so that they do not become unclean and are always available for use
• inform food handlers working for you of their health and hygiene obligations

Legal requirement

The legal requirements for food businesses in relation to food handler health and hygiene requirements are specified in:

Further information

• FSANZ Health and hygiene- advice for food businesses (PDF 141KB)
• FSANZ Safe Food Australia – a guide to Standard 3.2.2 (PDF 500 KB)
  

Food safety is critical when working in the food industry.

Refer to the Food Safety Toolkit for a range of resources including posters, stickers and factsheets to help to meet the requirements under the Food Act 2008.