Scenario:
We were asked to attend the club to investigate multiple reports from customers of alleged food poisoning.
A site investigation was carried out to look for common denominators of food poisoning as there were no specific foods that individuals had eaten. The equipment and storage areas all appeared to be up to industry standards, but further investigation led to finding a lack of paperwork and poor procedures.
Training had not been done with staff on safe cleaning procedures and the correct use chemicals held on site. There were also various sanitising products in use, each having different contact times, causing confusion in their use and application amongst the team.
Findings:
Both staff and managers were not adequately trained on cleaning procedures and the use of any chemicals on site. Any cascaded training to staff therefore was insufficient, leading to a high risk of cross contamination.
Although the kitchen, to a point, looked visually clean there was clear failure to understand microbial transfer (cross contamination) in the kitchen or the consequences of not cleaning with the correct chemical in the correct way.
The use of multiple chemicals to do the same job confused staff and they had poor understanding of their actions.
Corrective Recommendations:
Recommended manager to redo level three food hygiene course. As training is normally cascaded the manager is where the training begins.
Streamline of stock for chemicals, using only one type of product for its intended use. COSHH file created with correct data sheets to the corresponding chemical in use.
All staff to be correctly trained to use chemicals and the cleaning procedures that correspond. This is to be signed off by the manager and regular re-training given inside each month in the year.