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Hazard analysis made easy
Regulation 4(3) The Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995You will have heard of the legal requirement for all food businesses to carry out a hazard analysis - your Environmental Health Officer (EHO) will have discussed this during routine inspections and it will probably have been mentioned on inspection reports. EHOs must enforce the regulation where they find sufficient progress has not been made. In practice, this means that Improvement Notices will be served for instances of non-compliance, giving a limited period of time for business owners to meet this legal obligation. As with all formal notices, if the work is not done in the given time period it is likely to result in prosecution and a fine. Whilst we have a legal duty to ensure that food businesses comply with the Regulations, it is obviously better if businesses understand the requirements and willingly comply. The purpose of this page is therefore is to remind you of the hazard analysis requirement and encourage you to start and complete it if you have not already done so. We want to reassure you that we will do everything we can to help you and formal action is only likely where business owners fail to respond or where their food may be a risk to customers. A simple explanation of the Regulation is set out below and more detailed advice specific to your business can be given by your EHO. Please do contact The Directorate of Environmental Health if you remain unsure of what you need to do or require any further information. Telephone 020 7341 5282. Explanation of the RegulationDecide what checks you need to make so that you can be sure you always do what you have said is needed (This is called monitoring). For instance
If you change anything: menu, recipes, staff, equipment or premises, you must look at the system again in case changes have introduced new hazards that need to be controlled. (This is called a review). Important: These are simple examples which may or may not apply to your business. There will certainly be other matters you need to consider. This is why you must carry out your own hazard analysis and identify what is necessary for you business operation. Below are some frequently asked questions which we are asked Question: I've been running a food business for years without any problems, why do I have to do all of this now? Answer: The government has decided that "hazard analysis" is the best way of ensuring food safety and it is now the basis of all food safety law. When carried out properly by businesses, it gives owners a much better understanding of possible food safety problems, ensures that any failings are put right before any harm is done and provides a reliable defence in the unlikely event of any problems. Question: Does this mean I have to produce a mountain of paperwork and pages of instructions for my staff? Answer: No. There is no legal requirement to write anything down (other than in very high-risk operations such as food factories and under proposed requirements for butchers) but it will be helpful if you do keep some notes - it will save time during EHO inspections and make it easier for you to review the system. Question: I've tried to do the Hazard Analysis but I'm still not sure what I'm doing or if I'm getting it right. Answer: Don't panic - there's plenty of help available. Your EHO will be pleased to advise (but we can't do it all for you - that would defeat the purpose), and there are a range of useful guidance leaflets and trade/industry guides which apply to different types of business. In some situations it may be worth arranging for consultants to assist you but you must still make sure that you understand what is required so you can be certain that their recommendations are properly put into practice. Question: Is there any training available to help me and my staff? Answer: Yes. Many consultants, some colleges and also your local Environmental Health Service offer training. Tel: 020 7341 5606 for information about The Directorate of Environmental Health's courses. See the training webpages or telephone 020 7928 6006 (The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) for a list of training centres running approved courses. If you have done all this, you will almost certainly comply with Regulation 4(3): A proprietor of a food business shall identify any step in the activities of the food business which is critical to ensuring food safety and ensure that adequate safety procedures are identified, implemented, maintained and reviewed on the basis of the following principles:
(a) analysis of the potential food hazards in a food business operation Assured Safe CateringAssured Safe Catering is a system developed for caterers and with caterers to control food safety problems. It is based upon the principles of the system used in food manufacturing sometimes called Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). Ask the Council's The Directorate of Environmental Health for a copy of Assured Safe Catering - Asystem for Hazard Analysis. Telephone 020 7341 5282. The manager(s) or owner of each catering food business has to be able to satisfy every customers demands and expectations that the food:
Food poisoning may occur even when food has been prepared in clean kitchens if the food is not stored, prepared, cooked and served properly. HazardsA hazard is anything that may cause harm to a customer. This can be:
Hazard Analysis Flow ChartDownload our Hazard Analysis Flow Chart [PDF file] and follow the chart below to help you guide yourself through the preparation of a hazard analysis. See also our HACCP: Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points page.
If you have difficulty accessing PDF documents, there are some useful online tools available on the Access Adobe website which can convert PDF documents into HTML or text. Click the following link http://access.adobe.com
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