What Food Safety Problems Should You Report?

Every food handler has a different job role from being a chef in the galley, to serving in the passenger's food areas to servicing the crew mess. This training will help you not only in your specific role on board but understand the bigger picture of food safety in all departments. 

You should be reporting any problems to your HOD (head of department), Supervisor or manager. Below is a list of things you may spot as you go about your everyday work. The training will help you understand why reporting is important and recognise when you should report something you may see or do to prevent a food safety problem from occurring. 

• Finding food that is out of temperature control (hot and cold).
• Finding unfit and spoiled food or food with an out-of-date code.
• Noticing Damaged equipment/structure e.g ventilation not working or chipped crockery.
• Discovering signs of Pest.
• Finding unclean areas in the galley, service area, restaurant and other areas of the vessel.
• Reporting if you have sickness or you notice passengers or crew showing signs of sickness.
• Observing fellow crew members with unhygienic habits.
• Noticing a build-up of waste.
• Insufficient hand-washing facilities or no soap/paper towels

Below are your key words for this section of your training.  These words you will use during your work and will appear in the final exam so be sure you learn them.

Telling Your Manager, HOD or Supervisor…

Being proactive and reporting any issues is good practice.  Not only can something be done about it to fix the situation but plans to prevent it from happening again can be put in place.  Reporting also has the following benefits:

• Stops food safety issues before they happen,
• Saves time,
• Prevents a bad reputation,
• Allows you to bring the situation back under control,
• Makes work conditions better, and
• Improves the food safety management system overall.

Please remember... It is ok to know there is a problem and ask for help to solve it!  This is how we all contribute to improving the systems on board and ultimately the safety of passengers and crew.

This course will train you on how to prevent problems, know when things may not be right and support in making a decision to prevent food safety issues or outbreaks.

The Main Faults That Result in Food Safety Problems

There are numerous faults that can result in food safety problems.  Listed below are some of the most common. As you continue with this training you will learn why these are problems and how to prevent or control them.  Knowing why these problems can cause food safety issues will help you be accountable in your role and make good decisions. 

• Preparing food too far in advance and storing it at room temperature.
• Slow cooling of cooked food.
• Not reheating/cooking properly.
• Contaminating food.
• Not thawing completely before cooking.
• Food handlers being infected or having bad personal hygiene.