Health and Safety

Training
Training is of fundamental importance for those working with and handling hazardous substances. The aim of training should be to make employees at all levels in the organisation aware of what they need to know, in order that they do not put themselves or others at risk of injury or ill-health.

Health and safety training has been required for many years for specific risks identified in legislation. However, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) introduced the requirement for more general training. Since 1974, health and safety legislation has embraced a wide range of activities, and the majority of this legislation contains specific requirements for health and safety training. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 are no exception to this, and lay down training requirements in the regulations and associated Approved Codes of Practice.

COSHH Rules
- Store Chemicals correctly
- Report any faulty or damaged containers
- Follow safe working practices
- Think safety and take care of yourself and your colleagues
- Read the labels
- Wear protective clothing as appropriate
- Never mix chemicals
- Never use unmarked containers
- Never use containers designed for other purposes
- Know the first aid procedure


Food & Safety
Food safety involves safeguarding food from anything that could harm the health of consumers. While standards enable everyone to enjoy their food without illness, injury or other problems, poor standards can lead to all kinds of harm and even death. As food safety is so important to everyone, food handlers have legal obligations for keeping food safe to eat.

Outbreaks of food-borne illness and questions about food and health have often been in the headlines in recent years. At the same time, cases of food-borne illness have increased dramatically. In England and Wales, for example, the number has more than quadrupled over a decade. No single reason has been identified for the increase, but factors may include:

- Changes in eating habits, including a greater reliance on re-heated foods and an increase of meals and snacks eaten away from home.
- Changes in shopping habits, including more bulk-buying with food being stored at home for longer periods
- The intensive rearing of food crops and animals
- A reduction in the use of preservatives
- Changes in the way that official figures are recorded, with a wider range of illnesses now included in the statistics
- Increased reporting of cases because of greater public awareness

Key Words
- Food - anything that people usually eat or drink, including ice.
- Food safety - the safeguarding, or protection of food from anything that could harm consumers' health.
- Food hygiene - all the practical measures involved in keeping food safe and wholesome through all stages of production to point of sale or consumption.
- Legislation - the general term for laws, regulations and directives

Contamination is the presence of something harmful or objectionable in food or drink which creates a risk of illness, injury or discomfort. No one wants to eat contaminated food and the law says that food handlers must protect food from contamination.

Contamination & Prevention Of Illness
- Contamination - the presence in food of any harmful or objectionable substance.
- Contaminant - any substance or object in food that makes the food harmful or objectionable.
- Risk - the likelihood of harm.
- Microbial - anything to do with micro-organisms (microbes). Sometimes referred to as microbiological.
- Hazard - anything that could cause harm to the consumer. Food becomes hazardous when it is contaminated.
- Food contact surfaces - any surface that touches food and therefore creates a contamination risk.
- Vehicle of contamination - hands, spoons or anything else that can carry micro-organisms onto food, causing contamination.

Causes of Contamination
Food contamination is caused by three groups of contaminants which are described as:

- Physical
- Chemical
- Microbial

Microbial contaminants are the main cause of food-borne illness
Examples of physical contaminants:

Chemicals Regulations
The Chemicals (Hazard Information & Packaging for Supply) Regulations

CHIP aims to ensure that purchasers, users etc of chemicals are given enough information on the hazards to protect their health and safety. This extends the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 for manufacturers and suppliers to ensure that preparations and substances that they supply are safe for use at work and provide adequate information on the hazards to allow the preparation or substance to be handled safely.

CHIP therefore governs the information that must be provided when hazardous chemicals are supplied.
- Oxidising
- Flammable
- Toxic
- Harmful
- Corrosive

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)

What are the COSHH regulations?
1997 European Directive

- Objective is to reduce the number of accidents at work attributed to Hazardous substances labelled corrosive, irritant, harmful, toxic, oxidising, flammable etc
- Easy to avoid accidents, ingestion, inhalation, burns
- Employers must perform risk assessment
- High Risk products should be replaced with less hazardous products where possible


Cleaning & Disinfection
10 Golden Rules

1. Be sure you can read all labels and follow instructions for use.
2. Use the protective clothing provided.
3. Do not mix chemicals. Mixing chemicals can kill.
4. Never put chemicals into unmarked containers.
5. Never put chemicals into bottles or containers with other uses, i.e. eating and drinking.
6. Be sure you know the first aid treatment required if you accidentally spill chemicals on yourself or others.
7. All chemicals must be stored safely.
8. Report any faulty equipment, spillage or damaged containers to your Supervisor.
9. Always follow the rules. Develop safe working practices around the workplace.
10. If you find anything wrong report it to your Supervisor.