Core Hospitality Prelim Notes
Core Hospitality Prelim Notes
HYGIENE - TOPIC 1
Food allergies
● 2 percent of adult Australians have a food allergy
● Common symptoms of food allergies
o Abdominal discomfort
o Hives or welts on the skin
o Itching
o A mild wheezy feeling in the chest
o Swelling on the face, lips or eyes
● Emergency response to allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis
● Some allergies to food can be dangerous, causing a severe
reaction called anaphylaxis
● Symptoms of anaphylaxis:
o Noisy breathing or difficulty breathing
o Swelling tongue, tightness in throat
o Difficulty talking
o Wheezy cough
o dizziness
● Individuals need to carry an epipen
● When having an anaphylaxis reaction:
o Sit or lie the patient on the floor
o Follow the patients action plan for anaphylaxis
o Locate the epipen and administer adrenaline
o Call 000
● Selection of foods to be handled and consumed
o Hospitality staff need to understand the need for care in the
preparation of foods; prevent food poisoning and food reactions
o It is the customers responsibility to inform an establishment if they
have a food allergy
o Waitstaff should know about the contents of dishes on the menu
o Should ask chef if unsure about ingredients
o An establishment must be honest with customers if they cannot
be certain that a dish is free of a particular allergen
o Use seperate equipment and utensils
Meaning of food-borne illness
● Referred to as food poisoning
● Illness caused by consuming food that has been contaminated by
pathogenic bacteria or viruses
● Be caused by consuming naturally poisonous foods, or chemicals
Causes of foodborne illness
● Consumption of bacteria such as E. coli, listeria and salmonella
● Consumption of food that has been in contact with a carrier of a virus
● Consumption of toxins; poisons produced by bacteria that causes the
illness
Bacterial, bacterial toxins and viral contamination of food through:
● Cross-contamination
o Bacteria, toxins and viruses can be transferred to food through cross
contamination
o E.g. handling food with hands when there is a cut
o E.g. a waiter blowing her nose without washing her hands
o E.g. staff coming to work after having a vomiting virus
● Incorrect storage and food handling
o Temperature danger zone (5-60) is the temperature range at which
pathogenic bacteria reproduce most rapidly
o Bacteria can double every 20 minutes
o Foods that are to be stored before they are prepared must be
covered and clearly labelled
o If chilling, food are to be kept below 4 in coolroom
o If heating food, temperature above 75
o Time spent preparing foods should be monitored to ensure gufg-risk
foods do not remain in the danger zone for too long
Naturally poisonous foods
o The substance solanine which turns potatoes green
o Consuming large amounts of solanine can cause nausea and
vomiting
o Rhubarb leaves contain a high amount of oxalic acid
o Some mushrooms are dangerous to eat
Illness and symptoms
Name of Duratio Symptoms of illness Foods that contain the
pathogen n of contaminant
illness
BACTERIAL:
TOXINS
VIRUSES
REPORTING
Purpose and importance of reporting:
● Establishments should be constantly aiming to increase their standards
of quality in food service
● To improve; they need to be honest about their practises and
procedures, and measure these against their food safety goals
● If food safety practises are not working and food breaches are
occurring, the establishment needs to be aware to fix the problem
What, how and who to report:
● Individuals who report hygiene and safety issues are customer
and employees
● Food hazards and associated risks:
● Food handlers have a responsibility to report when a food safety
breach occurs, or is at risk of occuring
● E.g. reporting when food is out of date
● Customers will report if they feel a meal/food are not hot/cold
enough
● Poor hygiene and work practises:
● Incorrect storage of raw and cooked items in the coolroom
should be reported; Raw foods should always be stored below
cooked food
● Inappropriate wearing of the uniform; full uniform always worn
● Unsafe work practises when working with food:
● Handling of ready-to-eat foods without the use of food handling
gloves should be reported
● Careless placement or plating of food can affect people with
allergies
● Special dietary needs are often handled by one person in the
kitchen to prevent mistakes
● Personal health issues:
● Worker should state if they have an illness before coming to work
● Enables workers to do different jobs without contaminating food
● Any injury that would require the staff to wear gloves needs to
reported to the manager
● Incidents of food contamination
● Customers can be quick to report an incidence of food
contamination such as hair in food, coffee cup with someone
else's lipstick on it
● Workers who notice evidence of pest activity needs to reported
immediately as it can escalate very quickly
Types of reports:
● Formal and informal
● Formal reports are written after an inspection by the EHO
● These provide a summary of both good and bad results and
details regarding how any issues should be solved and when they
need to be solved by
● An informal report might involve adding an item to a whiteboard
order list for future purchase because stocks are running low
● written
● A customer may provide a written letter of complaint
● HACCP- have many reports that provide evidence of ingredient
inspections on arrival, temperature checks, cleaning checklists
● Anaphylaxis incident may require staff to write a detailed report
● An incident report such as a staff member become ill during a
shift and being sent home
● verbal:
● When an incident need reporting immediately, verbal reports are
often provided
● E.g. customer complaining about meal being undercooked,
issue needs to be resolved immediately and then the issue would
be followed up with a written report to later investigate if the
issue is resolved
Reporting to appropriate persons:
● If the incident is reported by a customer, they will tell the nearest staff
member or may ask for a manager
● Employees should act within their level of authority; passing on any
food concerns to their supervisors
● A serious outbreak of food poisoning must be reported to the NSW food
authority; who may conduct an investigation with the local council
SAFETY- TOPIC 2
WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY
Meaning of health, safety and security:
● Health: the state of being free from illness or injury
● Safety: being protected from harm or risk, including security
● Security: the state of being free from danger or threat
Implications of the cost of workplace injury:
● Social
● Refer to the impact of the workplace accident on the injured
person's family, whose lifestyle may be temporary/permanently
damaged sur to injury
● Social costs include, work, lifestyle choices, sporting
● Human
● A workplace injury can have permanent effects on the quality of
the worker, which can also cause strain on family, friends and co-
workers
● Physical and psychological injuries
● Organisational
● The workplace may remain affected by the injury after the
incident
● Operations may be restricted until an investigation into the
accident has taken place
● Other employees may be required to take on more workload
● Economic
● Financial burdens imposed on the workplace, family and health
system
● Including costs for medical and injury rehabilitation
● Loss of wages, may affect the individual and family to cause a
dramatic change in lifestyle and living arrangements
WHS responsibility:
● When the PCBU (employer), workers and visitors to a site do
not participate in safe work practises they are putting
themselves and others at risk of harm
● Carelessness or not working safely can lead to damage and
injuries
● Mutual responsibility is known as duty of care
Participation and consultation in relation to WHS:
● Employees have a duty to participate in discussions about safe work
issues
● Allows employees to understand their rights and responsibilities in
regards to WHS
● WHS needs to be consistently enforced, routinely checked, updated,
maintained and evaluated
Primary role/function of key bodies involved in WHS:
● There are different key bodies that can help keep employers and
employees up-to-date with work health and safety legislation,
regulations and code of practise
● WorkCover NSW
● Part of the safety, return to work and support division of NSW
● Role; oversee work health and safety, workers’ compensation
insurance and benefits and return to work strategies
● Provides; employees and employers with relevant information on
WHS, insurance and claims, training, law and policy
● Information on training, assessment and licensing
● Safe Work Australia
● Each state in Australia has its own WHS legislation
● Aims to improve health and safety and workers compensation
arrangements across the country
● Raises awareness of WHS issues, regulating health and safety laws
and developing and improving workers compensation
● local councils
● Provide information about WHS considerations in relation to
hospitality events held on council property; function at town hall
● WHS information that relates directly to council guidelines and
expectations
● unions
● Groups representing workers in different industries
● Workers in the hospitality industry are represented by the union
united voice
● The role of the union in WHS is to provide advice on WHS issues to
workers
● To obtain advice; workers can call to talk to their union
representative
● professional associations
● Organisations such as the australian hotels association, restaurant
and catering NSW and clubs NSW
● Provide information on WHS issues for the PCBU including risk
management, training, hazardous chemicals and WHS
consultation
Internal and external sources of WHS information:
● Internal - workplace or organisation policies, emergency plans, training
documents
● External - WorkCover NSW, legislation, regulations and codes of
practise
Authority and responsibility for WHS:
● Working according to your level of employment within the
management hierarchy
● Employees higher up the hierarchy such as supervisors or managers are
expected to take on greater decision and policy making within an
organisation
● Taking initiative
● Every level of employment, employees should take
initiative
● Shown when a WHS issue can be identified and easily
rectified
● E.g. moving tae station to avoid power cord becoming a
trip hazard
● Problem-solving
● WHS issues are often raised at staff meetings where input is from
all employees
● Workers at all levels of employment can contribute to problem
solving
● E.g. identifying a problem after service and talking to supervisor
to prevent in future
● Decision-making
● Final decisions are often the responsibility of those in charge
● Some situations; a decision needs to be made quickly
● E.g. in a first aid situation
WHS COMPLIANCE
Legal requirements for work health and safety
● WHS legislation:
● Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW)
● Designed to ensure that workers' health, safety and welfare is
protected at work
● It covers all categories of employment- full time and part-time,
apprentices, volunteers, work-placement students, employers
● Aim of legislation is to eliminate or minimise risks in the workplace
that threaten the health and safety of workers
● Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (NSW)
● Regulations detail the guidelines that workplaces need to follow
in order to comply with work health and safety legislation
● Regularly amended to ensure they are in line with the intent of
law and that they do not create rules that cannot be enforced,
por create an unfair burden on businesses
● Include detail on WHS inspections, application of risk assessment
procedures, first aid, emergency procedures, PPE, hazards in the
workplace
codes of practice related to:
• Hazardous goods and dangerous goods
o Relates to the risk associated with hazardous chemicals
and dangerous goods
o Many substances can cause effects through contact,
inhalation, ingestion
o Provide signage that warns workers of the danger,
monitoring the health and operations of the workers, and
providing appropriate training and supervision
● manual handling
o A task that requires a person to lift, lower, push, pull, cary
or move, hold or restrain something
o May involve repetition, force, awkward posture or
vibration
o Present a risk of spain, strain or back injury
o Must undertake a risk assessment of manual handling tasks
to minimise injury
● risk management
Outlines the process of working towards a safe workplace
1. Identify hazards in processes or workplace
2. Assess risks- how serious can injury be
3. Control the risks
4. Review the controls
● WHS consultation
o Requires employers and business owners to seek advice from
workers on matters of safety
o Based on worker input and participation to improve decision
making, reduce injuries and diseases
o Provide guidelines that help business to receive information
and discuss work health and safety issues with workers
Person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU)
● Primary duty of care to its workers, visitors, and customers in the
workplace
● Responsibility to ensure:
● Work environment, equipment are safe and properly
maintained
● Chemicals are used, handled and stored safely
● Adequate facilities available; bathrooms
● Information, training, instruction and supervision
● Duty to consult with workers on issues of hazard and risks
Consequences of non-compliance
● Financial consequences
● Insurance for any injury or illness suffered in the workplace
● Legal consequences
● Notices issues by safework; fixing potential hazards
● Prohibition notice
● Fines
● Shutdown of business
● Penalty notice; on the spot fine
● Prosecution; court system used for unsolved issues
Safety signs, symbols and barricades:
● Provide direction, restrict access to a certain area or alert employees
or customers to a potential hazard
● Be direct, inform, warn people of different things
● Signage must be clear, legible, comply with legislation
● Signage is universal
● Meaning of colour and shape
● Stop or prohibitive sign red circle, white background with a cross
through the middle; no smoking
● Mandatory signs are blue with a white background
● Danger signs alert to a hazardous or life threatening condition
● Warning signs contain information about hazardous conditions;
black triangle with yellow background; wet floor
● Emergency signs; exits, white letting green background
● Fire signs indicate the location of firefighting equipment; red
SECURITY
● Security hazards have the potential to threaten the safety or wellbeing
of staff and guests
Potential security breaches:
● Relates to the need to protect the safety of customers and workers,
property; cash, documents and valuables
Cash handling:
● Large amounts of cash on premises creates a security risk
● Cash should be handled by as few employees as possible
● Establishments will have procedures for counting money and
transferring large notes to the safe regularly during a shift
● Cash should not be held on premises overnight
● Cash should not be taken to the bank at the same time everyday
Documents:
● Customer information; credit card details, files containing information
about employees, financial information about the business
● Electronic storage of information should be secure ensuring only a few
people can access it
Equipment:
● Theft of equipment is costly
● Guests staying at a hotel will be asked their credit card details to
prevent theft
Keys and access passes:
● Managing the movement of people
● Require the use of a key card or swipe card to operate lifts or access
gym
● This prevents people who are not guests of the establishment of using
the facilities
● Key control to minimise staff movement in an establishment
People
● Staff:
● Important for staff to feel safe at work
● Employees should be trained to be alert for suspicious people;
may look out of place, act nervous, avoid eye contact
● Wearing name tags and official uniforms
● Make it easy to distinguish staff from guests
● Customers:
● can be both the cause and the victim of a security breach
● Customers causing a disturbance may make other guests feel
uncomfortable
● Police should be notified is a person is out of control
● others:
● Visitors; tradespeople, appliance repairers, should sign in as a
visitor and have a pass or badge
● Should show identification before they are given access to
areas
Records:
● Electronic records for both employees and guests
● Employees never to share passwords and should change passwords
regularly
● Customer details will never be passed onto another party without
permission
● Paper copies of information should be shredded
Stock and supplies:
● Regular stock takes and use key control procedures to limit access to
areas
● E.g. access to alcohol needs a key
● Establishments have lost property; protects business against customer
accusing them of theft
Buildings:
● Secure areas:
● Access to secure areas is restricted to a small number of
employees
● Key, swipe card or pin code
● General access areas:
● Secured by the use of CCTV or physically controlled by security
● Presence of staff on site makes guests feel comfortable
Strategies to deal with security breaches:
● Worker must act within their level of authority
● Notify breaches to a supervisor; they will determine the most
appropriate course of action
● In case of a robbery; workers should remain calm and do as they ask,
try to take as many details about the person, contact police
immediately
● Bomb threat; listen carefully to all instructions, tone of voice, accent,
any background noises. Threat reported to police
● Dealing with security breaches:
- observation (CCTV)
- reporting to emergency services (bomb threat)
- evacuation
Reporting security breaches:
● Report breaches to supervisor
● After event or incident, a detailed report should be written to allow
assessment of procedures and outcomes for future improvement
RISK MANAGEMENT
Difference between risk and hazard:
● Hazard; a situation that has the potential risk to pose a threat to life or
health
● Risk: level of exposure to danger
● Hazard is a situation that can cause the injury and the level of risk is the
likelihood of the injury occurring
Hazard identification;
● Conducted in consultation with workers by reflecting on past
experience
● Crucial to safe work practises
● May include; stress, bullying, slip and trip hazards, manual handling,
working with chemicals
Range of hazards:
Biological - exposure to bacteria, virus and moulds
- workers need to have training in infection control
Working with tools and - tools that are heavy should be placed in positions to make
equipment them easier to use
Loading and unloading - repetitive tasks of moving unstable goods should be done
using trolleys or assistance
Using mechanical - lifting equipment is required when the item can't be lifted
aids/lifting equipment safely
Emergency situations
● Should be quickly recognised
● Quick reaction in accordance to establishments policies and
procedures
Seeking advice
● All staff should work together to provide assistance in an emergency
Emergency contact numbers
● 000 to access fire, ambulance or police
● Numbers on quick guide; such as manager if they are not on premises
First aid
● Preserve life and prevent any further harm to the patient until medical
help arrives
● DRS ABCD
● Every worker has a duty of care they must render assistance in a
emergency situation
Recording and reporting incidents, accidents and emergencies:
● Important that procedures are applied and reviewed in the event of
an incident
● Accurate records are necessary for review to take place
● Further investigation by safework NSW