Food Hygiene Training South West is based on the Somerset / Devon border and I am pleased to say I carry out food safety training for many large well-known businesses and organisations, including SOHO Coffee, the MOD, McColl’s, The Women’s Institute, and many local companies throughout the South West, such as Somerset County Cricket Club and West Somerset Railway.
RSPH has been the awarding body for Food Hygiene Training South West for around 13 years and I see them as the country’s premier awarding organisation for food safety qualifications. Their certification carries a lot of kudos within food production, in particular with Environmental Health Officers.
The training is delivered into two sectors; manufacturing and catering. Manufacturing, as the name suggests, is the production of foodstuffs such as cheese, bread & cakes, meat, food ingredients, drinks, flavourings, which is then sold on into the retail world.
Catering training ranges from training staff from a small one-person operation making sandwiches or cupcakes to larger “mass catering” businesses such as Somerset County Cricket Club, who can cater for thousands of people on a matchday from multiple kitchens. Catering also includes pubs, restaurants, cafés, retail food shops and hotels.
The basic entry-level food safety certificate for ALL organisations is Level 2 Food Safety. However, there are two versions to accommodate the different sectors; Level 2 Food Safety in Manufacturing and Level 2 Food Safety & Hygiene (for catering). Typically, the courses would be around five to six hours long and include an examination at the end to obtain a regulated qualification. However, business owners, managers, supervisors and team leaders will need to take the slightly more advanced Level 3 Food Safety certification.
So, what is involved? Firstly, registration is taken with each learner giving their name, signature and birth date on a form. This is followed by some standard house-keeping information about breaks, toilets, smoking, mobile phones and fire exits. We now also have an added requirement to explain and adhere to the safety measures covering Covid-19, to ensure everyone remains safe whilst attending the course.
I use an excellent PowerPoint program to work and talk through all of the different modules such as food safety and hygiene laws, cleaning and disinfection, allergens and pest control, hazard analysis and a critical control point (HACCP), hazard awareness. I show some “horror stories” just to focus on how serious things can be if we do not follow basic food safety principles and I also show some photo “nasties” which everyone enjoys and always raises a few smiles!
On completion of the course, there is normally a short recap time, which is followed by an examination. The Food Safety Level 2 examination consists of 30 questions, and for each question, you are provided with four possible answers, so immediately you have a 1 in 4 chance of being correct. The pass mark for Food Safety Level 2 is 20 correct answers so it is highly achievable and my pass rate is around 99%.
For candidates wishing to advance to Food Safety Level 3, there is a longer course of around three days, which is focussed on managing a food business and learning to apply and write all of the various systems. The examination for this course consists of 45 multiple-choice questions with a pass mark of 30 and there is a Distinction pass for those gaining 38+ marks.
On completion of any of my Food Safety training, the centre sends the examination papers to RSPH for formal marking and the certificates for those who pass take around a working week to be returned.
Most candidates attending a food safety course are often concerned and worried about what to expect, as many people have not done any formal training with an examination since leaving school or college. I certainly try very hard to put students at ease, be as relaxed as possible in my teaching approach and allow time for questions throughout, as learners may have a query specific to their job role.
Food Safety Spotlight video