Examples of What You Must Do

Bacteria: (sometimes called germs) are all around us. In our mouths, nose, ears and on our hands. They are found in some of the foods we eat and on the packaging, they come in. Bacteria are very small and can be only seen under a microscope.

Watch this video to see how bacteria can be transmitted by you. The Sneeze

Personal Hygiene

High standards for personal hygiene are expected for excellent guest service. Food handlers on board need to understand more about the importance of personal hygiene from a food safety perspective to implement good practices and control to keep food safe from harm.

All crew must:

• Have high standards of personal hygiene,
• Always wash your hands after visiting the toilet, when entering any food area and after sneezing or coughing
• Not work if ill or suspected of being a carrier of harmful bacteria,
• Be trained in line with work activities.

What is a Carrier?

A carrier is someone who may be harbouring an illness without showing symptoms but can still contaminate food and others.

Let's begin with hand washing. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone is fully aware of the importance of effective hand washing and have seen video's/publications on how to do this properly. Hand washing and hand-washing facilities have always been legal requirements for food handlers.

Hand washing can help reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses (food poisoning) as well as COVID-19 by 16-20%.

There should be adequate facilities for hand-washing in all food areas. Hot and cold running water or automatic taps at a temperature of 30-40°C. If the water in hand-washing facilities is too hot people will simply not wash their hands properly.

There must be a bacterial hand wash available with paper towels or air-dryers and a foot-operated bin.

Sinks for hand-washing should not be used for any other purpose to prevent cross-contamination.

The Steps for effective hand washing are as follows:

Using alcohol gel does not replace effective hand-washing. Sanitising gel is good for entering non-food-related rooms. Alcohol gel is also effective for COVID-19 control when boarding the yacht. It is also good to use if on deck, after folding beach towels for example, if there is no immediate hand-wash sink.

Remember to report if any hand-washing sink is not properly equipped or working

Hand-washing film from the Food Standards Agency

If You are Feeling Unwell

If you are feeling unwell you must report immediately to ascertain your fitness for work.  It is paramount to report signs of food poisoning.

The symptoms of food poisoning are listed below. The Incubation period of food poisoning is usually 1- 36 hrs. This means the time a person is infected but yet to show symptoms. The common duration of food poisoning is 1 - 7 days, this means how long the person is infected. anyone suffering from symptoms of food poisoning must not return to the food preparation environment until 48 hours after symptoms have disappeared.

• Stomach Cramps,
• Diarrhoea,
• Vomiting,
• Nausea/feeling sick,
• Fever,
• Dehydration, and
• Collapse.

Vigilance 

When entering food areas which include food storage areas you must be aware. Physical contamination can happen when something objectionable has fallen in the food that can cause harm. 

Crew should wear the correct uniform and head coverings with no jewellery in the galley or other food areas. Prohibiting unauthorised crew and visitors from entering the galley will reduce the risk of physical contamination.

The crew will be trained to report defects on any equipment or parts of the ship to their supervisor or manager. Always prevent notice boards with drawing pins in food areas and paperwork with staples. 

Pests Onboard

As you go about your work keep an eye open for pests! 

What is a food pest?...

An animal, insect or bird which lives in or on our food. It contaminates food and is noxious, destructive or troublesome.

How Do Pests Contaminate Our Food?

• Breeding in food.
• Feeding (vomit back previous meal). This is what files do.
• Faeces, known as droppings.
• Walking on food or work surfaces used to prepare food.
• Laying eggs on uncovered food.
• Dead bodies in the food.

There are various pests that can find their way into the food environment on board. They are mice and rats who build nests in warm dry areas and come out to find food. Flies that land on food, vomit on food and leave droppings on food. They also carry many bacteria and lay eggs that become maggots.

Cockroaches come out, especially at night and crawl over food. They also urinate on work food preparation surfaces. Coach roaches breed rapidly so if you see more than one there is almost certainly an infestation somewhere that needs to be found and dealt with.

Shipping companies engage with a professional company to consult with, to aid in the creation of a pest management system on board and provide the correct training. You need to know your responsibilities for pest prevention and control.

Bacterial Contamination & Waste

On board, under MARPOL (Maritime regulations for preventing pollution at sea) waste disposal is highly regulated and ships are required to keep a waste log. Stipulating what waste is created and where it was disposed of, for example in a regulated waste disposal in port.

Food waste that can build up and attract pests, and animals and support bacterial growth must be taken off-board as soon as possible in port and disposed of in the correct way. When at sea, throwing food waste over the side is also strictly regulated. Below is a guide to help you but on large ships, there are crew members that will handle all waste from food to recycling in line with MARPOL.

Accumulated waste will attract pests, increase the risk of contaminated waste transferring to other areas of the ship and support the build up of dust and dirt.