The Importance of Training Food Service Employees

A grill is a fire hazard, so employee training reduces fire risks.

Many restaurants require food service employees to undergo training before allowing the employees to prepare and serve food. Government inspectors will visit a restaurant and rate its food safety practices, and fine or shut down a restaurant where food service workers are placing public health at risk. A state may also require a restaurant employee to obtain a food safety certificate.

State Requirements

If a state does establish a training standard, the training courses that an employee takes must meet this standard. Credentialing organizations will state whether their courses meet the curriculum requirements for a specific state. An employee may need to take a standardized test at a testing center to prove that he knows food safety concepts.

Storage

Restaurants often prepare a large amount of food when they expect to get a large number of customers at lunch or dinner. Food safety standards cover topics such as how long food can be left out unrefrigerated and the minimum temperature that food must be heated to when food is stored in metal containers for several hours. The restaurant must throw away any excess food if it is not stored correctly or the safety period expires, costing the store money.

Equipment

Some cooking equipment is very dangerous. Grills, fryers and stoves can burn an employee who doesn't know how to use them. Food service employees also use knives and other cutting devices. A restaurant often has a larger-scale version of cooking equipment than an employee uses at home, and this equipment is both more dangerous and requires extra training to operate safely.

Cleanup

Restaurants often store hazardous chemicals. A restaurant can get very dirty and the employees will need to use bleach, ammonia and other strong chemicals to clean up the store. The employees need to know what protective equipment to wear when cleaning the restaurant and which chemicals are safe to use on each surface, such as plastic, wood or metal.

Training Organizations

Several organizations offer training that meets state requirements. Prometric, Servsafe and the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals are three organizations that conduct examinations and sell food-service training materials. Universities and colleges also offer food safety courses, often based on one of these three programs. According to the state of Indiana, all three of these firms offer programs that meet the American National Institute's nationwide food safety standards.

References

• ServSafe: California State Food Safety Requirement Summary
• City of Pasadena: Food Safety Certification
• County of Los Angeles: Certified Food Handlers
• State of Indiana: Food Handler Certification Rule