Prime Skills

When people hear about food safety, their minds automatically go to food poisoning or spoiled and mishandled food but dangers aren’t just inside of the food; they’re hidden all over the kitchen. Did you know that kitchens are the most dangerous room in houses, hotels and restaurants? It’s true!

Think about the last time you cut your finger on a knife while either cooking or trying to open a package. Not only did it hurt but it also made you think, wow, if I had just taken this step or that step, I wouldn’t be bandaging my finger right now. This is how people learn from their mistakes making the next time you’re in the same predicament, much safer.

In a home kitchen, the live and learn technique usually works great but when you’re working with many people in a hot and sometimes cramped professional kitchen, the percentage of having any kind of accident increases enormously.

Anyone who’s worked behind the scenes of a catering business or inside of a professional kitchen knows that when the mealtime crowd rushes in, the hectic pace in the kitchen also speeds up. Mix this with sharp utensils, stove fire, oil, lots of cooks and other high quality kitchen machinery and equipment, you’ve just made the perfect recipe for disaster. That is, only if you and your staff aren’t well prepared and trained on how to always be two steps ahead.

Some of the most common kitchen accidents are caused by fires, electrical appliances, steam, oil, hazardous materials and hard to reach places. Here’s why:

• Fires – This is one of the more obvious hazards since stoves and ovens are always lit with fires and yet, it’s one of the biggest accidents to happen in the kitchen! Long or loose fitting sleeves can catch a flame or perhaps have some drops of oil on the wrist area causing it to become a flammable torch rather than a protective barrier. To prevent this from happening, it’s best to wear a flame retardant chef’s coat or roll the sleeves up to the forearm.
• Electrical Appliances – Faulty or frayed wiring, burned out sockets or old appliances can also cause fires and electrocution if not checked on a regular basis. Before each shift, all electrical appliances, sockets and even lighting should be checked since the last thing you’ll ever want is an electric spark near the stove.
  
• Burns – Burns and scalds come as minor and major injuries from every angle you turn in a professional kitchen. Whether it’s boiling liquid droplets or a large spill of bubbling oil, you must be on high alert at all times! Most people are aware of these types of burns but tend to forget the steam that comes with covered pots and pans that can cause serious damage to the skin. To help stay alert, keep all pots covered when unattended or when boiling hot liquid and also keep arms covered in well-fitted flame retardant sleeves. When opening covered pots, ALWAYS open away from your face, never towards yourself.
• Hazmats – The word ‘kitchen’ and ‘hazardous material’ aren’t often put together but certain chemicals kept in the kitchen are considered hazmats by the Occupations Safety and Health Association (OSHA). Some of these products are hand sanitisers, cleaning liquids, certain oils and pesticides that are used in the kitchen for obvious reasons but should they accidentally get mixed into a customer’s order, it could cause serious side effects which is never good for business. Many kitchens keep a checklist close by to remind them which chemicals are considered hazardous to ensure that these products are always put away before the food is brought out.
• Slips and falls – Falling off a stool or chair happen so frequently that there are television commercials broadcasted all over the world. There are even parodies made because it’s always the fault of the person who fell. If there’s something in storage that’s too high up to reach, ladders are sometimes used and not set up properly or chairs are pushed for a quick hop up, often not stable enough to support an adult’s weight. If you need to get something that requires additional help, bring a spotter along with you to make sure you climb up and down safely. As for trips and falls in a professional kitchen, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the bustle and forget to clean up after yourself but it’s such an important task to include. Leaving a fallen onion on the floor or a mop leaning against the wall is a disaster in the making with people running through to grab their orders, often not looking where they’re going. Always pick up after yourself to help keep a clear walking line for all staff – it’s that simple!

Just for a little bit of fun, take a look as this poor woman gets hit with just about every possible accident that can happen in a kitchen:

Accidents in the kitchen can occur quite often if preventative measures aren’t taken early on. Many companies are required by law to follow certain regulations and codes to keep the kitchen safe for customers and more importantly, food service workers. To help food business owners pass all points of inspection, it’s important to have an Internal Food Safety Audit conducted within their kitchen/s.

Internal Food Safety Audits will ensure that all employees are aware of potential hazards but also, will make certain that food business owners will take the proper measures ahead of time to keep common kitchen accidents to a minimum.

As long as you’re two steps ahead of potential safety hazards in the kitchen, you can be guaranteed to have a safe kitchen that keeps customers satisfied and coming back for more!

What is a restaurant or catering business without its top chef? What is a chef without waiters and waitresses to serve their fantastic food? It’s definitely not one of the finer food businesses in town.

Teamwork plays an important role in the food safety business. With one part of its whole missing, the food business no longer functions as one smooth operation and guess what? This doesn’t only include the staff!

The leader must also be a part of the team whether this is making sure all wait staff, cooks, chefs and other key players is all on the same page or through demonstrating how tasks need to be completed.

A great example of poor teamwork is the famous Hell’s Kitchen television show with Gordon Ramsey as the star. Ramsey is renowned for his bad temper, use of profanity and degradation of anyone in his kitchen. While this is surely great for the network ratings and brings a lot of attention, it’s also a great example of what can happen in a kitchen without teamwork present or the leader setting a solid example.

With a crowded kitchen during a restaurant’s busiest time, the atmosphere can get tense. There’s waiters rushing in and out, bringing in orders, taking them back out; too many cooks and not enough chefs and that forever short period of time the food must be prepared before the customer gets angry.

If a sense of camaraderie isn’t established before the shift begins, then rank in the kitchen takes over the feeling of being part of the team. The end result of that can be disastrous causing a lack of helpfulness towards each other, leaving each to their own task and basically asking for potential accidents to happen in or outside of the kitchen.

This video is a little silly but it presents a good message of what happens when people work in restaurants alone rather than working with each other:

Kitchens are definitely a challenging place to work which means that motivation must be put at the top of the priority list. This is because the two most powerful motivators are trying to make a difference and the opportunity to work closely with others to achieve a common goal.

This doesn’t mean hold a cookie on a dangling string in front of your staff; it means care about getting to know your employees so that you can lead and inspire them to become better at their profession. It’s a completely natural feeling for people to work extremely well together when there’s motivation present.

Managers have to provide the motivation by fully training their staff, spending time on the floor with their cooks and giving constructive criticisms instead of degrading, sardonic remarks when someone isn’t performing up to their standards. It’s up to the staff to carry out their responsibilities while staying attuned with their colleagues. It’s a simple thing called respect.

There’s no way around the chaos that will ensue but if respect formed as a mutual bond amongst staff, from employee to supervisor and vice versa, motivation will stay high. This little shift in the professional kitchen paradigm will have everyone working together as a well-oiled team, not to mention, keeping the kitchen running as a smooth operation.

Every fine restaurant wants repeat happy, satisfied customers. The only way to acquire that is to start working as a team from the bottom of the faculty chain all the way up to the top of the management line!

Teamwork is a continual loop that shows teamwork can never be underestimated in ANY company – especially in the professional kitchen!

New food laws require certain food businesses in the NSW hospitality and retail food service sector to have at least one person trained Food Safety Supervisor (FSS). Businesses have until 1 October 2011 to appoint their trained Food Safety Supervisor and notify the relevant council. Penalties for not having a Food Safety Certificate in NSW include a $330 fine for individuals or a $660 fine for corporations, plus placement on the NSWFA “Name and Shame” website for 12 months.

Click on the image below to access an online Food Safety Supervisor Training course.

Chefs consider their wonderful food as their masterpieces. As with many famous artists, their legacies live on, producing progressive changes in cultures and lifestyles, exactly the way master chef, Georges Auguste Escoffier did.

This revolutionary chef became as famous as his is today for three major points: The development of modernising traditional French cooking methods, modernising restaurant menus and applying organisation within the professional kitchen. Later on, Escoffier became a best-selling culinary author of books such as, Le Livre des Menus (1912), Ma Cuisine (1934) and most famously, Le Guide Culinaire (1903) which is still currently used as a reference for cookbooks and textbook cooking.

His recipes, techniques and approaches to kitchen management remain highly influential today and adopted by chefs and restaurants not only in France, but around the world.

In the late 19^th century, Auguste followed many techniques of another, earlier and very famous chef, Marie-Antoine Careme. Careme’s culinary style was much more elaborate in the early 18^th century but his introduction to modernising European dishes and introducing much needed illustrations into his books inspired Escoffier to simplify Careme’s recipes in a way that could continue to be modernised for decades to come.

Beginning his cooking career at Le Petit Moulin Rouge in Paris, Auguste quickly moved up the professional ladder, due to the most notable part of his culinary career: Introducing this newly discovered simplicity along with organised discipline into restaurant menus and kitchens to improve professional kitchen working conditions.

In no time at all, he was working all over Paris in the finest dining restaurants and travelling to Monte Carlo, Switzerland and London to learn more about the culinary world while fine-tuning his own culinary techniques.

Another interesting little fact is that during this era of his career, Auguste served in the French Army as Chef de Cuisine during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, which most likely comprised of the best fed soldiers to date! This experience in touring and Army life led Escoffier to realise the importance preserving foods which led to him becoming the first chef to ever research and develop techniques for canning and preserving meats and vegetables.

After his time was up as Chef de Cuisine in the French Army, Auguste Escoffier delved right back into the same role, only this time, Cesar Ritz invited him to become the Chef de Cuisine for the Grand Hotel in Monte Carlo in the winter and at the Grand National in Lucerne in the summer.

Peach Melba

Ritz then took over management at the Savoy Hotel, which allowed him to open his own chain chain of renown hotels named, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, in which Escoffier joined as his partner. Together, they conquered hospitality serving up brand new menus daily of the finest foods around to people of high class like the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Orleans. Because he needed to create new food menus every day, Escoffier also created some of his most famous dishes that are still currently served all over the world: Peach Melba and Cherry Jubilee just to name a couple.

Aside from making French cuisine world famous and forever changing how the world looked at Culinary Arts, there was also quite the philanthropic side to him. Amongst his many other talented and creative‘firsts,’ Auguste was the first to start programs to feed the hungry and organisations to give retired chefs financial assistance.

Although he’s won many achievement awards like the Legion d’Honneur, a lifetime of recognition means so much more! In today’s culinary line of work, his systematically organised and spotlessly, clean kitchen, called the Brigade de Cuisine, are used in every professional restaurant and run by the Chef de Partie.

All of his revolutionary restaurant management techniques, philosophies and experiences have allowed for Culinary Artist, Georges Auguste Escoffier, to become the legendary master chef that is known and admired in today’s culinary world – and the world has definitely noticed!

Most people have pieces of jewellery that they were regularly and some, like wedding rings, that they never take off. In the kitchen, however, taking off jewellery is extremely important for yourself and others in ways you may have never even thought of!

In professional kitchens, it’s a requirement that staff aren’t allowed to wear jewellery such as watches, earrings and necklaces when preparing food. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule that include wedding bands and medical alert bracelets BUT gloves must be worn at all times for protection. If there is a religious bracelet that an employee can’t remove, it will have to be managed by taping and remaining covered with protective work gear.

One of the main reasons watches and jewellery may not be worn around food are the dirt and bacteria it collects and spreads. Even if the jewellery has been cleaned and sanitised, it may catch other microorganisms that are lying around or from raw foods like uncooked chicken.

The other main reason jewellery is banned from food service kitchens is the potential hazard of a piece of metal or gemstone that could possibly fall off and into the food that’s being prepared. The last thing any reputable food company wants is customers with chipped teeth, broken teeth or internal cuts and lesions inside of their mouths!

Contrary to what people might believe, jewellery is very hard to completely clean out all of the germs and microorganisms that hide in the chain links or under those precious stones. Just because it looks sparkly doesn’t mean it’s sanitary.

Jewellery is worn for many different reasons; whether it means something sentimental or it defines how a person looks. The main thing to always remember, though, is to save beauty for outside of the kitchen because inside, food safety matters a heck of a lot more!

Every job has a dress code; whether it’s for business attire at the office, a logo filled collared shirt for the cable man/woman or hair netting and gloves for kitchen employees. A uniform represents a personal standing within the company as well as oftentimes, useful for other purposes such as safety and hygiene assurance.

In any food working environment, great, personal hygiene and safety of the employee and consumers goes a long way in food safety. One way to encourage as much cleanliness in the professional kitchen as possible is to require uniform practices that help prevent bacteria from spreading in the food preparation area.

It goes without saying that all kitchen staff are required to come to work clean and wear clean, uniformed clothes and coverings when working with food. If you’ve ever noticed chefs and cooks in the kitchen when dining out, their uniform consists solely of all white. It seems a little silly to those not in the food business that white, the easiest stained colour of all, is used in one of the messiest professions out there. The reason behind it is very interesting though: Safety.

Not only can white be bleached (pure sanitation) every time it’s washed but white is also the most reflective colour which helps keep heat at bay for cooks to stay cooler. Also, these white coats don’t have your typical plastic buttons on them; rather, they contain knotted buttons that don’t melt and are easy to unbutton should a flame or oil accident occur.

You might think, in such a hot kitchen, why do food service employees wear long-sleeved coats? Again, the answer is: Safety. Long sleeves help protect employees from getting burns from boiling liquids or accidental oil spills while also protecting happy customers from flakes of dead skin, drops of sweat or body hair from ending up in their food.

Ideally, work clothes should be long-sleeved and light-coloured (to show the dirt) with no external pockets.  Long sleeves protect both the food and your arms, prevents skin from touching food and helps to stop hairs, fibres and the contents of pockets (which can carry bacteria) getting into food.

When working with raw poultry or other salmonella carrying food, aprons are then typically used over the white chef uniform so that it can be removed without requiring a time-consuming, full change of clothing. Also, to follow any health regulation required in any country, long hair is required to stay tied back while also wearing disposable hair (and beard) nets and rubber gloves.

A good idea to help keep up the sanitation of a professional kitchen is to enforce employees to only put on their kitchen uniforms once they’ve arrives to the food prep area and removed once their shift is over to avoid tracking in dirt and bacteria from the outside. Since reputable food companies need to keep their customers healthy and food-poisoning free, these uniforms, hair nets and gloves are an absolute must!

Did you know?

• Each state has different Food Safety Supervisor requirements and the penalties that apply for not complying also differ?
• Businesses in NSW can risk a $660 fine whereas in Queensland, they risk a slightly smaller fine, but automatically lose 2 of the maximum 5 stars from the scores that they must display on their doors!

SITXOHS002A Follow Workplace Hygiene Procedures
&
SITXFSA001A Implement Food Safety Procedures

Monday 25^th July 2011 – Liverpool, Sydney
Monday 22^nd August 2011- Liverpool, Sydney
Monday 19^th September 2011- Liverpool, Sydney
Monday 17^th October 2011- Liverpool, Sydney

Parking: There is a parking station at 33 Moore Street (Enter via Dewsbury Way) CLICK for more details

Note: The venue is only 200 meters from Liverpool train station

Cost: $180 per person (inclusive of all course materials, assessment, statement of attainment, NSWFA FSS certificate and snacks)

Competencies: SITXOHS002A Follow Workplace Hygiene Procedures & SITXFSA001A Implement Food Safety Procedures

Note: Health and Food Processing competencies can also be included if required

Phone:
            1300 615 904
Mobile:
            0410 592 181
Email:
            kristie@hospitalitybrainwave.com.au

Over the next couple of weeks, I will summarise for you what the requirements are in each state.

This week, I will start with NSW as this is the most recent change and one that potentially affects the most number of businesses

Over the past two weeks I have explained to you some of the changes that are happening in NSW in relation to audits in Vulnerable Persons businesses that were explained to all of the auditors that attended the meeting. It shocked me to find out that with less than three months to go before the mandatory requirements are enforced, that less than 10% of all applicable businesses have completed this course!

On the 1^st October 2010, the New South Wales Food Authority (NSWFA) announced that all hospitality and retail businesses that prepare food (cut, make, cook, cool etc. their own meals) will need to have at least one person trained as a designated Food Safety Supervisor (FSS). This means that impacted businesses only have until the 1^st October 2011 to appoint a trained FSS and notify their relevant council of their FSS details.

The NSW Food Authority website has been updated and provides information on the following:

• Guide for businesses (exempt businesses) & Guideline document
• Training requirements
• Approved providers
• Notifying FSS details
• FSS certificates (prior training & replacements)

The NSWFA has provided local councils with copies of the ‘Guideline to Food Safety Supervisor Requirements’ for distribution to local businesses, and have also placed English and translated versions of the guidelines on the Authority’s website. The NSWFA website also has:

• The FSS provisions of the Food Act 2003 at http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/
• The Minister’s media release and all associated information at www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au
• All possible questions in relation to the FSS are at: http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/industry/fss-food-safety-supervisors/guide-for-businesses/

In summary, the NSWFA has also announced the following requirements:

• The FSS must be trained by a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) that is approved by the NSWFA. Be aware, that not all training companies that deliver food safety training are approved.
• The trainer delivering the training must be approved by the NSWFA
• The FSS cannot apply for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) to receive a NSWFA approved certificate. They must attend a formal course (or conduct online).
• The certificate is only valid for 5 years. A refresher course must be undertaken by an approved RTO at least every five years.
• There is a $30 fee that applies to all certificates issued. Some RTOs include this in the cost, and others have it as an extra
• Once you have obtained your certificate, you must still notify either the NSWFA or your local council of who your businesses FSS is.

For the certificate to be recognised, you must have the NSWFA FSS certificate (a copy of which appears below). Just having the correct unit of competency on an RTO statement of attainment will not be accepted.

The penalty that applies to businesses not having a qualified FSS is $330 for individuals and $660 for corporations.

Remember you must have completed the training by 1^st October 2011 to avoid this.

Given that most people leave things to the last minute, it is best to do it now, so that you don’t risk the cut off deadline of 1^st October 2011.

To assist you meet this requirement, we have scheduled four workshops for individuals and are also taking bookings for onsite workshops (where you can all your staff trained at your workplace, saving you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.)

In Melbourne or want to do the course online?

We have a course in Melbourne, in Glen Iris on Friday 5^th August 2011. Contact Sarah on 1800 FOOD SAFETY (1800 366 372) or email her at info@PrimeSkills.com.au.

To do the course online go to: http://www.foodsafetysupervisor.net.au/food-safety

A recent survey of more than 500 admin workers by recruitment firm OfficeTeam revealed that a majority of administration and office support staff are either looking or considering new jobs due to lack of career development opportunities.

This highlights one of the problems small businesses are facing in light of the current skills shortage, with many employees eager to find better positions with higher pay at rival firms after staying put during the global financial crisis.

Business owners and managers need to respond by giving employees better opportunities and scope to improve their standing within the company if they want to hold on to their staff.

The survey of 540 administrative professionals found 59% are now actively seeking or looking for a new job, with 54% saying that better career options were their main motivation for leaving. Not surprisingly, another 25% said they wanted more responsibility within their roles, 21% said they thought more opportunities were available and 21% said they were simply bored with their current jobs.

This all points to one solution – more, better training.

Administrative staff are some of the most crucial parts of day-to-day operations for a business and it can be significantly costly to replace them. Especially if more than one admin staff member leaves at the same time. When that happens, it can cripple a small business that is already vulnerable.

But the answer isn’t as complicated or expensive as some employers might fear. The survey reveals 44% of workers would like to participate in other aspects of the business, 37% want to attend conferences and other events and 25% want a mentor.

Most of these policies can be introduced without seriously affecting the bottom line. In fact such investments have been shown to give considerable Return On Investment (ROI).

Encouragingly, the survey shows 63% of employees feel training courses could help their career, while 53% said their morale would be given a boost if they had access to more training – especially online training courses, which tend to be extremely cost effective.

You can increase responsibility by giving them additional projects outside of their normal sphere of responsibility and task description.

All of this is especially important for Generation Y employees, because they’re looking at career development and want to have an outline of what’s going to happen with them over the next 12 to 24 months. Often just discussing the expectations and plans is enough to suppress the desire to look elsewhere for direction.

Even though this research focused on administrative employees, suffice it to say it’s analogous to what’s being observed in the food service industry.