Food Safety Induction for New Staff

Before a new food handler starts their first shift, run a short, documented food safety induction. On day one, cover personal hygiene and handwashing, the 5°C/60°C temperature rules and the 2-hour/4-hour rule, allergen awareness, how to report illness, and where cleaning and cleaning-related tasks sit. Under the Food Standards Code, food businesses must ensure handlers have the skills and knowledge for their work. Record who was inducted, when, and by whom. Key takeaways: The Food Standards Code requires food businesses to ensure food handlers have the skills and knowledge they need for the work they do — induction is how you meet that on day one.. Cover the essentials before the first shift: personal hygiene and handwashing, temperature control (5°C, 60°C, the 2-hour/4-hour rule), allergen awareness and the duty to report illness.. Make the duty to report illness explicit — a handler with vomiting, diarrhoea or symptoms like these must tell their supervisor and must not handle ready-to-eat food.. Keep a signed, dated induction record showing what was covered, who delivered it and who received it; keep it in the staff file.. Induction is the start, not the whole story — pair it with supervision, on-the-job coaching and any accredited training your state or council requires.. Day-one food safety numbers: Control, Target. Cold potentially hazardous food — 5°C or below. Hot potentially hazardous food — 60°C or above. Cooking / reheating core — 75°C. 2-hour/4-hour rule — <2h use or chill; 2–4h use now; >4h discard. Probe thermometer accuracy — around ±1°C. Handwash scrub time — around 20 seconds. Why induction matters and what the law expects The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (Standard 3.2.2) requires food businesses to ensure that people who handle food, and their supervisors, have the skills and knowledge in food safety and hygiene appropriate to the work they do. It doesn't spell out a single fixed curriculum for every role, which is why a structured induction is the practical way to prove you have met the requirement. A new starter who plates ready-to-eat food, or who checks deliveries, needs to understand the basics before they touch food — not a week later. Treat the induction as the moment you close the gap between hiring someone and letting them work unsupervised. Some states and territories also require certain businesses to appoint a trained Food Safety Supervisor, and some require food handlers to complete recognised training; confirm the exact obligations with your state or territory regulator and local council, as these vary by location and business type. Personal hygiene and handwashing Handwashing is the single most important habit a new handler learns, so lead with it. Show them the designated hand-wash basin (not the food-prep or pot-wash sink), the soap and single-use drying method, and walk through when and how to wash. Cover clothing, hair restraint, jewellery, fingernails and covering cuts with a brightly coloured waterproof dressing. Explain that hands must be dried thoroughly, because wet hands transfer bacteria more readily. Make it concrete by naming the specific moments in your kitchen when hands must be washed. Wash hands: on entering the kitchen, before handling food, after handling raw meat/poultry/seafood, after using the toilet, after touching the face/hair/nose, after handling rubbish and after breaks or smoking.. Wet hands, apply soap, scrub for around 20 seconds including between fingers and thumbs, rinse and dry with single-use towel.. No eating, drinking, chewing gum or spitting in food-handling areas.. Cover cuts and wounds with a coloured waterproof bandage and, where used, a glove; report the injury to a supervisor.. Keep fingernails short and clean; avoid nail polish and false nails where your business policy requires it.. Temperature control and the 2-hour/4-hour rule New handlers need the core numbers on day one because temperature abuse is a leading cause of foodborne illness. Keep cold potentially hazardous food at 5°C or below and hot food at 60°C or above; the range between is the temperature danger zone where bacteria multiply fastest. Cook or reheat high-risk foods so the core reaches 75°C, and use a clean, sanitised probe thermometer accurate to about ±1°C to check rather than guessing. Teach the 2-hour/4-hour rule for ready-to-eat potentially hazardous food that has been in the danger zone: under 2 hours it can be refrigerated or used; between 2 and 4 hours it should be used immediately and not returned to the fridge; beyond 4 hours it must be thrown out. Show them where the fridge, freezer and hot-holding temperatures are recorded and who to tell if a reading is out. Cold potentially hazardous food: 5°C or below.. Hot potentially hazardous food: 60°C or above.. Cooking/reheating core temperature target: 75°C.. 2-hour/4-hour rule: <2h use or refrigerate; 2–4h use now; >4h discard.. Probe thermometer: clean and sanitise between uses; accuracy around ±1°C.. Allergen awareness Every new handler must understand that an allergen mistake can be life-threatening, not just a quality issue. Introduce the major allergens that must be declared under Australian labelling requirements and explain how a customer allergen request is handled in your venue — who takes it, how it's communicated to the kitchen, and how the safe meal is prepared and delivered. Stress that they must never guess an ingredient: if unsure, ask the supervisor or check the recipe and product labels. Cross-contact is the key concept — an allergen transferred by shared utensils, boards, fryer oil, gloves or hands can harm a customer even when the allergen isn't an ingredient of the dish. Know the declared allergens: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, crustacea, molluscs, sesame, soy, wheat/gluten-containing cereals, lupin and added sulphites.. Prevent cross-contact: clean and sanitise surfaces, use separate or freshly cleaned utensils and change gloves.. Never guess — verify ingredients from labels or the recipe, and escalate any uncertainty to a supervisor.. Follow your venue's process for taking and communicating a customer allergen request end to end.. Reporting illness and fitness for work Make the duty to report illness explicit and unambiguous during induction, because a sick handler is a direct risk to customers. Under the Food Standards Code, a food handler who knows or suspects they may have a foodborne illness, or who is carrying a related condition, must report it to their supervisor and must not handle food where there is a real risk of contaminating it. Tell new starters exactly who to notify, before their shift starts, if they are unwell. Common reportable symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, sore throat with fever, and jaundice. A handler with these symptoms should be excluded from handling ready-to-eat food; your policy should set out when they can return, generally after symptoms have resolved for a suitable period — confirm specifics with your state or territory regulator. Also cover reporting infected skin lesions, discharges from the eyes, ears or nose, and coming to work after a household member has had a similar illness. Report symptoms like vomiting, diarrhoea, fever or jaundice to a supervisor before starting work.. Do not handle ready-to-eat food while symptomatic or while there is a risk of contaminating food.. Report infected cuts, sores, boils or discharges from eyes, ears or nose.. Know who to contact and how, and understand the return-to-work expectations after illness.. Cleaning, the workspace and your food safety program Finish the practical tour by orienting the new handler to how your venue stays clean and how it documents food safety. Walk the layout: separation of raw and ready-to-eat areas, colour-coded boards or equipment if you use them, where cleaning chemicals are stored (away from food) and how to read the labels and dilution rates. Explain the difference between cleaning (removing visible dirt) and sanitising (reducing bacteria to safe levels), and show the cleaning schedule and who signs it off. Then show them the business's food safety records — temperature logs, cleaning records, delivery checks and any food safety program or plan — so they know where information lives and what they are responsible for completing. Separate raw and ready-to-eat foods in storage and preparation.. Store chemicals away from food; follow label instructions and dilution rates.. Clean first to remove soil, then sanitise; follow the cleaning schedule.. Know where temperature logs, cleaning records and the food safety program are kept.. Recording the induction An induction you can't prove is one an auditor or inspector may treat as not having happened, so document it. Use a simple induction form that lists each topic covered, the date, the name and signature of the person delivering the induction and the new handler's name and signature confirming they understood it. Keep it in the staff file alongside any training certificates. This record does two things: it demonstrates you have met the skills-and-knowledge obligation under the Food Standards Code, and it gives you a baseline for ongoing supervision and refresher training. Note any follow-up training the handler still needs — for example, accredited food handler training or a Food Safety Supervisor course — and a date to review their progress. Checklist: Handwashing demonstrated at the designated basin, with the when and how explained. Personal hygiene rules covered: clothing, hair, jewellery, cuts, no eating/drinking in food areas. Temperature rules taught: 5°C, 60°C, 75°C core and the 2-hour/4-hour rule. Probe thermometer use and sanitising shown. Declared allergens and cross-contact prevention explained. Venue allergen request process walked through end to end. Duty to report illness made explicit: symptoms, who to tell, when not to handle food. Cleaning vs sanitising, chemical storage and the cleaning schedule covered. Location of temperature logs, cleaning records and the food safety program shown. Induction form signed, dated and filed; follow-up training and review date noted. Common mistakes: Letting a new handler start their first shift before any hygiene or temperature basics are covered.. Treating induction as a form to sign rather than a genuine walk-through and demonstration.. Assuming staff will report illness without being told explicitly who to tell and which symptoms matter.. Skipping allergen cross-contact, so staff think an allergen is only a problem when it's a listed ingredient.. Not keeping a signed, dated record, leaving no evidence the induction happened.. Confusing induction with accredited training — check whether your state or council also requires formal food handler training or a Food Safety Supervisor..