Whether you own a five-star restaurant, a café, or something in between, it’s important for you to understand that the biggest asset you have at your disposal is and will always be your wait staff. These hardworking men and women are directly responsible for the first impression that a customer gets when they walk through the door, as well as nearly every element of the experience they get thereafter. But your employees are involved with a whole lot more than just presentation – they’re also your first line of defence when it comes to food safety, as well. If you truly want to understand why a food-handling course is so important to your business, you’ll need to keep a few key things in mind.
When Things Go Wrong
When it comes to food handling, you need to understand that you’re talking about a whole lot more than just whether or not something looks attractive or tastes delicious. When things go wrong, people’s health and wellness is very literally on the line.
According to GoodFood.com.au, incidents involving salmonella poisoning have nearly doubled in the 10 years between 2003 and 2013. There were 6990 reported incidents in 2003, while there were an astounding 12,836 in 2013. According to the Department of Health, there were roughly 5.4 million cases of food-borne illnesses in Australia over the same period of time. 120 people got so sick that they actually died. The total cost to the economy is a staggering $1.25 BILLION dollars – let that sink in for a moment.
Food Handling Courses
Your wait staff – and in particular your kitchen staff – have a certain responsibility to every last one of your customers. Customers put their faith in your business to not only provide them with a service, but to take the steps necessary to help make sure they don’t get sick. This is especially true during the warm summer months of the year, where foods like meat and homemade mayonnaise need to be prepared very specifically to avoid a potentially dangerous (not to mention fatal) situation.
Reasons like these are why food-handling courses (like the kinds offered by RSA Melbourne) are so important. Not only will your employees be taught the safe skills, practices, principles and procedures necessary to prepare meals for your customers as safely as possible, but they will also get a deeper understanding of hygiene training, basic cleaning and so much more.
Throughout a one-day course, they will learn all about food safety and why it is so important. They will know what it takes to monitor food safety in the workplace, along with identifying and controlling some of the natural risks that exist in such an environment. They will also find out more about how to properly identify and assess food safety hazards as they develop, putting a stop to small issues before they become much bigger and more dangerous ones down the road.
Most importantly, they will also receive their Food Handling certificate, which comes with the type of peace-of-mind as a business owner that you just can’t put a price on.
To find out more about food safety, or about any of the other training and hospitality courses that we offer, please don’t delay – contact RSA Melbourne today.
