Safefood launches eLearning tool to provide basic food safety training to new staff

IRELAND – Safefood, a food safety management software company, has launched a new free eLearning tool for small and medium-sized (SMEs) food businesses across Northern Ireland to provide basic food safety training to new staff as they manage a post-pandemic increase in demand.

‘Safefood for business’ is a free online training programme in basic food safety for SME food businesses across food service, catering, retail and manufacturing sectors in Northern Ireland.

The interactive training programme covers key areas of food safety training in short, practical and engaging modules using real-life scenarios and work-place scenarios.

Food industry workshops hosted by safefood revealed that many staff working in SME food businesses don’t have a high level of food safety knowledge. They also revealed that they struggle to prioritize food safety due to the competitive pressures of the food industry, coupled with small profit margins and high staff turnover.

Introducing the new eLearning tool, Ray Dolan, CEO safefood, said that building a culture of good food safety benefits both the public and those food businesses that supply them. He informed that there are approximately 50,000 businesses producing food across the island of Ireland and around 80% of these are small food producers.

“Having met many small food business owners through our Knowledge Network, we understand the pressures they face and how they have a lot on their plate, including food safety training. Our aim is to provide business owners with a free and practical food safety training tool that fits their needs,” he said.

‘Safefood for business’

Susanne Taggart, owner of Dromore based and multi-award-winning artisan bakery, The Little Bakehouse NI, is among the small food business owners that have utilized the resource.

“As a small business, we are proud to be involved in developing and refining the ‘safefood for business’ eLearning resource. We are passionate about food safety and ensuring our products are produced safely and adhere to legal requirements. When it comes to food safety, there is no room for complacency,” she said.

She said ‘Safefood for business’ was developed in collaboration with small food business owners, like her, to ensure the resource is relevant and informative.

“This fantastic e-learning resource will play a crucial role in helping address a real training gap for small and medium-sized food businesses in the provision of basic food safety training to new and existing staff. I would urge all small and medium-sized food businesses to utilize this free resource,” she added.

‘Safefood for business’ teaches staff the importance of food safety and develops their knowledge on essential criteria such as personal hygiene, cleaning essentials, temperature control, food microbiology, allergens in food and Pest control.

The training programme will allow SME food businesses to provide and track staff training on-site, awarding module completion certificates and a course completion certificate.

“We designed “safefood for Business” to be practical for small food businesses so it uses short training modules with real-life scenarios. Because managers and small-business owners can track staff progress while training, it is ideal both for new staff as part of their induction process, as well as re-training staff returning to the industry,” said Dr Linda Gordon, Chief Specialist in Microbiology, Safefood.