2.7 Kitchen and Catering

1. Responsibility and Risk Assessments

The Manager is responsible for ensuring that these procedures are implemented, doing so on a delegated basis via the home staff. The Manager will also undertake regular checks to ensure that procedures are being maintained and will report to the Group Manager any persistent or serious faults as set out in Section 1, 'Reporting Repairs' of the Maintenance and Repairs Procedure.

If young people are likely to undertake food preparation or other work in kitchens, the manager must ensure a Risk Assessment is undertaken and identified risks are managed.

2. Hygiene and Food Safety Guidelines

All care staff are expected to undertake mandatory training in Hygiene and Food Handling as part of their induction process and in all cases must have completed this course within six months of commencing employment.

This training covers the following areas:

The safe purchase of food, the safe transportation and storage of food; the safe storage and shelf life of various food products; the risks of failing to observe good practice in hygiene and food handling; basic understanding of simple bacteria and the processes by which food can become harmful; the necessary precautions to take to keep hair and skin fragments from contaminating food during preparation; rules governing the disposal of waste food; how to maintain and monitor a fridge and freezer at the correct temperature.
A knowledge of how to maintain hygiene of food preparation areas using appropriate cleaning products and how to ensure that chopping boards, knives and other implements are kept separate for tasks relating to different kinds of food items as appropriate to the levels required in a domestic setting.

Where staff are failing to observe any of the elements described above having completed this training, this will be treated as a competency issue.

Young people are helped to understand the importance of hygiene and food handling as part of the process of preparing them for independence.

As part of fire training, staff will be made aware of the special hazards that kitchen fires present.

Food Hygiene Analysis

All shelves in fridge are labelled according to food hygiene regulations.
All refrigerators to have thermometers, which are checked daily and the reading recorded on the handover checklist.
All freezers to have thermometers, which are checked daily and the reading recorded on the handover checklist.
Sell by dates on food checked weekly or when product is used, whichever is the sooner.
Weekly grocery shopping is done locally and transported immediately back to the unit.
Separate chopping board surfaces are used for raw, cooked, bakery and vegetable items. These must be labelled according to the following key:

Label Colour	Food Type
White	for bread and bakery products only
Green	for vegetables, salad and fruit only
Yellow	for raw chicken only
Red	raw meat only
Brown	for Cooked meat only

7.	All chopping boards are washed and dried thoroughly after each use.
8.	Anti-bacterial cleaner is used on kitchen surfaces after each use and particularly at the end of each day.
9.	When storing cooked food ensure that it is portioned in order to cool quickly, then labelled with the contents and the date and stored on the appropriate shelf in the fridge. (all food must be cooled and stored within one and a half hours)
10.	All stored, cooked and opened products within the fridge must be labelled with a use by date.
11.	'Now wash your hands' notice posted in bathroom/toilets and anti-bacterial soap provided.
12.	A cleaning rota is displayed allocating staff and y.p. tasks, with space to initial when done.
13.	Frozen food is defrosted in the fridge prior to use.
14.	Within food preparation area, guidance on the correct handling and preparation of food is displayed prominently. This must include storage temperatures and hygiene requirements.

3. Environmental and Health Inspections

Under Review

4. Accident Prevention and Equipment Misuse

In all kitchens, access to knives and any other sharp instruments needs to be controlled. Preferably they should be kept locked away when not in use. In smaller homes the number and type of knives in use needs to be assessed in relation to any child's likely behaviour.

Within any kitchen, staff must ensure that children are not placed at risk and are aware of hazards e.g. movement of hot pans, the use of oven gloves, proper storage of food, dangers of slippery floors, damaged electrical equipment and handling of knives.

5. Cleaning and Fridge/Freezer Usage

TASK	PROCEDURE
SWEEP AND MOP KITCHEN FLOOR	Sweep the kitchen using broom, dustpan and brush. With a mop used only for the kitchen mop the floor using disinfectant and make sure "wet floor" sign is displayed. Frequency: Sweeping and mopping should be undertaken at the end of each food preparation and cooking sessions. Where possible spills and dropped food items should be cleared up immediately
CLEAN WORK SURFACES	Clean the kitchen work surfaces including chopping boards, using an antibacterial cleaner. Frequency: Always wash worktops before you start preparing food. Wipe up any spilt food straight a away. Always wash worktops thoroughly after they have been touched by raw meat, including poultry, or raw eggs. Never put ready-to-eat food, such as salad, bread or fruit, on a worktop or chopping board that has been touched by raw meat, unless you have washed it thoroughly first.
DATE LABEL FOOD	Ensure date label is placed on any food the day it is frozen, including "use by" date. Discard any out of date produce. Frequency: At least weekly
CHECK FOOD IN STORES	Check any fruit and vegetables for condition and discard as necessary. Check all other food in stores and discard any damaged or contaminated food. Frequency: Preferably daily but this will depend on the type of food stored and the environment in which it is stored
CHECK FRIDGE/FREEZER TEMPERATURE	Record fridge/freezer temperatures twice a day on the Fridge/freezer Probe chart. Fridge temperature range from 0 to 5 degrees C. Freezer temperature range from 18 to 23 degrees C. Frequency: Record temperatures at the start of every day and then at least once during the working day
CLEAN ALL FRIDGES	Remove all food from the fridge and wipe down all surfaces using an antibacterial cleaner. Frequency: Immediately after a spillage and at least once a week.
CLEAN COOKER TOP	Clean all surfaces thoroughly with detergent to remove grease. Frequency: Immediately after use.
SWEEP AND MOP STORES FLOOR	Sweep the stores floor using broom, dustpan and brush. With a mop used only for the kitchen mop the floor using disinfectant and make sure "wet floor" sign is displayed Frequency: Sweeping and mopping should be undertaken at the end of each food preparation and cooking sessions. Where possible spills and dropped food items should be cleared up immediately
CLEAN MICROWAVE	Wipe all surfaces with antibacterial cleaner. Frequency: Immediately after use.
CLEAN SHELVES IN STORES	Remove all dry goods from shelves and wipe down with antibacterial cleaner. Frequency: Immediately after a spillage and at least once a week.
CLEAN OVEN	Clean all surfaces and shelves thoroughly with de-greaser/detergent. Frequency: At least once a day after use
CLEAN TOASTER	Empty crumbs and wipe surfaces with anti-bacterial cleaner. Frequency: At least once a week.
WIPE DOWN TILES IN KITCHEN	Wipe down the ceramic kitchen wall tiles using a detergent to remove grease. Frequency: Immediately after a spillage or splashing and at least once a week.
DEFROST FREEZERS	Remove frozen food to another freezer, defrost and clean all surfaces with antibacterial cleaner. Discard any out of date food before replacing. Frequency: Dependant on frequency of use and build up of ice, but must be cleaned regularly to avoid the build up of ice and spillages, food debris must be cleaned immediately
SPRING CLEAN KITCHEN	Thoroughly clean the kitchen; behind and under fridges/freezers, under shelving units, lights, windows and any other surfaces using disinfectant on floor areas and antibacterial cleaner on other surfaces.

End