With 98 councils in the UK having implemented the Scores on the Doors Food Hygiene scheme and even more to follow, the nation’s food businesses are gearing up to face a new compliance burden.
Over 100,000 businesses nationwide have already been affected by Scores on the Doors, a new government initiative where the public can find the official local authority hygiene ratings for food businesses based on a star rating of zero to five.
However, while the scheme may sound like an additional worry for managers, Sarah Delaney, Head of Compliance Services at Manchester Food, Fire and Health and Safety Consultancy, Shieldyourself, believes Scores on the Doors is something food businesses should welcome.
“Scores on the Doors is all about driving improvements in food hygiene by letting customers see how hygienic a food establishment is via a simple to understand stars rating,” She explained.
“All ratings are available to the public online and can be displayed on the premises too, letting customers see how you are scoring in comparison to your competitors and, if your rating is better than the rest, it can put you one step ahead of the game.”
Sarah believes the best way a food business can prepare for the legislation coming into place in their area is to ensure they are meeting all the criteria before the inspector calls.
Here are Sarah’s top five top tips to improving your Scores on the Doors star rating:
1. Have a written food safety management system, which is kept on-site, is fully implemented and is being followed by your staff. There is no point having a great food safety file that is simply gathering dust in a forgotten drawer.
2. Make sure all staff are trained in both food hygiene practices and the food safety management system, which can be via internal or external, accredited training courses.
3. Keep your premises clean. It may sound obvious but keeping your business clean is imperative and your cleaning system should include regular cleaning of hard to access areas, e.g. behind equipment and above head height as well as areas that are not used very often.
4. Keep the business well maintained. Implement a maintenance regime to ensure that you keep on top of all the big and small jobs. This helps ensure you are ready to deal with any major issues that suddenly crop up.
5. Work with the Environmental Health Officers (EHO); they are not there to cause trouble for you and, if treated with respect, are an excellent source of free advice and information.
Shieldyourself can provide food businesses with an in-depth audit, which provides information on the number of stars a business would achieve if Scores on the Doors were operational in their local authority. For more information please visit www.shieldyourself.co.uk or call 0870 011 8250.
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*Picture by Midorisyu.
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