To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
Identify food safety hazards:
Content guide
Contents
Overview
Key terms
2
2
Identify the production process steps
Techniques used to map a process flow diagram
2
3
Conduct a hazard analysis
Determine the food safety hazards
6
6
Establish control measures
8
Assess food safety risks
Risk severity
Likelihood
HACCP-based concepts
9
9
9
9
Establish critical control points
Set critical limits
10
11
Establish control documentation
Standard operating procedures
Work instructions
13
13
15
Summary
16
More resources
16
Sample answers to ‘My workplace’ questions
17
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 1 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
Overview
The development and implementation of a food safety program will enable
your food business to ensure food production methods are safe, hygienic
and that they comply with food regulations and legislation. A food safety
program identifies particular food safety hazards that need to be controlled.
This is achieved by setting clear food safety policies, standard operating
procedures and work practices.
This Content guide will help you:

identify the production process steps

conduct a hazard analysis

establish control measure documentation.
Key terms
You can look up these key terms in the online Knowledge base.
Corrective action
Critical control point (CCP)
Critical limits
Food contamination
Food safety hazards
Food safety team
Standard operating procedures
Temperature danger zone
Identify the production process steps
Before you can analyse the food safety hazards, you need to be able to
describe the production process. A straightforward way to do this is to
develop a process flow diagram. The information from the flow diagram can
be used to conduct a hazard analysis.
To find out how to identify the process steps, let’s look at a fictitious food
business, the Muddy Boots Café.
First the Muddy Boots Café food safety team identified the steps in the
production process that the food passes through to become the meal that is
served to their customers. The team wrote a description of the steps and then
put the information in a table — this makes it easier for everyone to read.
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 2 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
The next step for the team was to transfer the information from the table to a
process flow diagram. They covered all the process steps from incoming
raw materials to the finished product.
The following table shows the process steps and a description of the
production process for the Muddy Boots Café.
Process steps in the Muddy Boots Café
Step
Description of the production process
Receipt of goods
Formal process where goods are accepted or rejected after
inspection.
Storage
Placing food into appropriate areas to keep until required for
use.
Preparation
Process step where food is prepared for use or cooking, eg
chopping vegetables for a stir-fry or making a salad.
Cooking
Application of heat to food to cook.
Service
Stage when food is either plated or assembled for the
customer.
Discard
Stage where the food is thrown out or disposed of when it is
not consumed.
My workplace
Activity 1
List the food production process steps in your workplace.
Answer:
Techniques used to map a process flow diagram
A process flow diagram is constructed to provide:
1. a clear, simple description of the process steps
2. a way of recording information about the production process
3. identification of all individual steps in each process
4. all the processes undertaken in sequential order starting with raw materials
and finishing at the service or dispatch stage.
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 3 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
The diagram is best prepared by the members of the food safety team who
are directly involved with production of the food. It needs to reflect every
process step for each food item.
The process flow diagram identifies each step in the production process and
the different steps that could be part of the production process. Generally
these steps include:

receipt of goods

storage

preparation

cooking

cooling

storing

reheating

service

discard.
The process flow diagram underpins your whole food safety program. The
information in it is used as the basis of your HACCP (Hazard Analysis
Critical Control Point) audit chart. Checking the steps in the production
process will verify the process flow diagram.
As of a process flow diagram for the Muddy Boots Café kitchen is on the
next page.
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 4 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
Figure 1 — Process flow diagram for the Muddy Boots Café kitchen
RECEIPT
STORE
THAWING
PREPARATION
COOKING
COOLING
PREPARATION
STORE
REHEATING
HOT HOLD
COLD HOLD
SERVICE
DISCARD
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 5 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
Verifying the process flow diagram
Remember you must verify that the process flow diagram is correct by:

consulting with all members of the food safety team

walking through your premises and noting every procedure, checking that
the diagram accurately reflects these

consulting with staff to establish any variations from the procedures that
you note.
Conduct a hazard analysis
A food safety hazard is anything that can contaminate food and possibly cause
illness, injury or death. Food safety hazards are generally defined as biological,
chemical or physical.
Once you have constructed and verified your process flow diagram you are ready
to conduct a hazard analysis of your production process. To help understand what
is required when we conduct a hazard analysis, it can be further broken down into
three component parts:

determine the hazards that are related to each step in the flow diagram

conduct a risk assessment

establish control measures.
Determine the food safety hazards
You need to identify the potential hazards at each step in the production
process and highlight the things that can go wrong at that step.
One way to identify hazards is to identify the source of contamination at
each step in the flow diagram from the:

product

people

premises.
Where there is a source of contamination you need to identify if the hazard
is physical, chemical or biological. The answers to a series of questions will
help you identify the hazards at each step identified in your process flow
diagram. These questions are outlined below
Checklist of hazards at each step in the process flow diagram

Does the food contain any sensitive ingredients, which may cause a
food safety hazard (eg salmonella, pesticide residues or stones, glass,
metal)?
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 6 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice

What are the physical characteristics and composition of the food
during and after processing (e.g. pH, water activity, preservatives)?

Which physical characteristics of the food can be controlled in order to
ensure food safety?

Does the food permit survival or multiplication of microbiological
hazards during the production process?

Are there other products in the market place that can be used? What is
the safety record for these products?

Does the process include a controllable processing step that destroys
microbiological hazards?

Is the food subject to recontamination between processing and serving
to the customer?

Is the food commercially sterile (e.g. canned food)?

Does the layout of the facility provide adequate separation of raw
materials from ready-to-eat foods if this is important to food safety?
During the hazard analysis you need to differentiate between food safety
concerns and quality concerns. For example if your new apprentice
overcooks the spaghetti, this is a quality issue, not a food safety issue.
However, if the apprentice leaves the spaghetti sitting out on a bench
overnight and then heats it up the next day in a hotbox this would be a food
safety issue.
Undertaking this analysis may require assistance from experts who are
knowledgeable in the area of food safety, especially biological, chemical
and physical hazards associated with food and the production process. These
experts will guide you and your team in the development and
implementation of the food safety program and all documentation required
in the food safety manual.
My workplace
Activity 2
Conduct a hazard analysis for a roast chicken? You will have to work through the
process steps, identify the hazards, and describe the control measures.
Answer:
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 7 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
Establish control measures
The next step in the food safety hazard analysis is to consider what control
measures are to be applied to each hazard. Control measures are established
to prevent, control and eliminate food safety hazards. Control measures
describe how to keep food safe and will also improve food quality. Control
measures do not work in isolation - they are all closely linked.
As an example, the following table shows the food safety hazards and
control measures the food safety team at Muddy Boots Café identified.
Identification of control measures to reduce hazards at Muddy Boots Café
Food safety hazard
Growth of food poisoning
micro-organisms
Measures to control hazards



Survival of food poisoning
micro-organisms
Cross-contamination
Chemical contamination
Physical contamination
Temperature — correct temperature throughout
production, including storage, thawing, cooking
Time limits — restricting time food spends in
danger zone when temperature cannot be
controlled
Combination of time and temperature controls

Temperature and time limits ensuring microorganisms are killed in the cooking process














Not tasting food with fingers
Not placing hands directly on food
Correct glove use
Correct use of cloths for cleaning
Using clean utensils and equipment
Sick staff not to work
Clean uniforms
Staff training
Separate storage of raw and cooked foods
Correct waste disposal
Good hand washing
Washing fruit and vegetables before use
Preventing pest infestation
Not eating while working







Storage of chemicals away from food
Containers with chemicals are clearly labelled
Correct dilution of chemicals
Removal of all traces of chemical residues from
food contact surfaces and equipment
Washing fruit and vegetables before use
Strict use of pest control chemicals
Staff training







Visual inspection
Effective cleaning of work surfaces
No jewellery, hair contained
Coloured band aids
Covering of foods
Effective pest control
Staff training
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 8 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice


No glass in food preparation areas
Maintenance of premises and equipment
Assess food safety risks
When the hazards have been identified at each step in the production
process a risk assessment for each hazard must be completed. By
conducting a risk assessment you are able to rate the level of risk associated
with a hazard.
A risk is defined as the likelihood of the hazard occurring.
Each risk can be graded according to its significance. This is an integral part
of HACCP as it will enable your workplace to focus on the major risks.
The risk assessment determines the:

SEVERITY of the hazard — how harmful is this hazard to the consumer?
Will it result in death, illness, injury or just annoy them?

LIKELIHOOD of the hazard occurring — how often could this occur?
Risk severity
How harmful is the hazard to the consumer? These hazards can be rated
according to the degree of harm that they pose.
Hazards can be rated as high, medium or low depending on how harmful
each hazard is.
Likelihood
After determining the risk severity, the next step is to decide how likely it is
that the hazard will occur. The likelihood is also rated as high, medium or
low. As an example, cooked meat can support the life of pathogens and
would probably be rated as having a high risk of occurrence. However raw
meat (that is going to be cooked) could be rated as having a medium risk of
occurrence as the heating process will probably destroy the pathogens.
If a hazard has a severe outcome such as death — the SEVERITY is classed
as HIGH. Even if the likelihood is LOW, this is still classed as a critical
control point (CCP) as the hazard poses an unacceptable health risk.
HACCP-based concepts
When assessing the risk of each hazard there are a number of factors that
need to be considered, such as:

Menu items — are the foods highly susceptible to microbiological
contamination? Have they been associated with previous food poisoning
outbreaks?
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 9 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice

Your clients — are they ‘at risk’ consumers?

Your processes — will a subsequent step limit the risk, e.g. cooking,
washing of vegetables, etc?

Your current food hygiene practices — do your existing food hygiene
practices reduce the risk, e.g. excluding carriers of food-borne illnesses, a
valid pest control program, etc?
When the hazard analysis and risk assessment are complete, the food safety
team needs to consider what control measures are to be applied for each
hazard.
My workplace
Activity 3
Now start thinking about the hazards in your workplace. Develop a chart to assess
the risks in your workplace. Rate the severity as high, medium or low according to
how harmful the hazard could be to your customers. Next, rate the risk as high,
medium or low by deciding how likely it is that the hazard will occur. By looking at
the two ratings you will be able to determine the significance.
Answer:
Establish critical control points
The next step in your hazard analysis is to establish the Critical Control
Points (CCP).
Critical Control Points are those points in the production process where
there is high risk of contamination with an unacceptable risk to health.
Critical control points may be established at:

receipt of goods

storage

preparation

cooking

cooling

thawing.
Critical control points are based on the risk assessment. If severity and
likelihood are high at a production step, this production step is established
as a CCP.
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 10 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
In some cases, only particular foods will be identified not the whole
production step e.g. the receipt of fresh prawns may be a CCP but the
receipt of flour would not.
When you establish the CCPs, you must consider the following issues:

Are there too few CCPs? Having too few CCPs is potentially unsafe.
Care must be taken not to overlook any steps that are critical to product
safety. A food safety consultant or microbiologist can offer expertise in
determining CCPs.

Are there too many CCPs? If you err on the side of caution and have too
many CCPs in the process, the procedures may become too burdensome
for the organisation.

Quality versus safety. A HACCP-based food safety program is about
product safety not product quality. An organisation may choose to include
quality points as CCPs in the HACCP program. However this can lead to
having too many CCPs in the program, making it unwieldy.
The identification of the critical control points in the production process is a
point, step, or procedure at which control can be applied to eliminate,
prevent or reduce food safety hazards to acceptable levels. The next step is
to set limits — this is the minimum and maximum acceptable limits for each
control measure. Then you can develop specific work instructions and check
sheets related to each CCP.
Set critical limits
For each control measure there has to be a critical limit. Critical limits set
out the maximum and minimum acceptable limit — for example cold meats
must be displayed at between 1ºC and 5 ºC.
Limits must be set realistically. There is no point in setting limits so tightly
that they are unattainable - for example cold meats must be displayed at 3ºC.
This is almost impossible to control, therefore, an acceptable temperature
range is set. Additionally, limits must comply with legal requirements. The
Food Safety Standards provide a basis for critical limits and when
determining the critical limits reference must be made to standards.
When setting the critical limits for product safety in the Muddy Boots Café,
one of the following criteria was used:

temperature

time

tolerance for contamination (chemical or physical)

packaging

pH

water activity.
The following table outlines the specific limits for CCPs to prevent
microbial growth and survival.
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 11 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
Critical control limits for CCPs to prevent microbial growth and survival
Process step
Receiving
Storage
Critical limits
Chilled
0C–5C
Frozen
-18C to -21C
Dry
<15C
Chilled
0C–5C
Frozen
-18C to -21C
Dry
<15C
Preparation
18C for no longer than 30 minutes
Cooking
Internal temp of 75C for at least two minutes
(rare roast beef 68C for at least one minute)
Cooling/chilling
Within two hours from 60C to 21C, within a
further four hours from 21C to 5C.
Reheating
77C–82C within one hour for at least
two minutes
Hot hold
At or above 60C
Cold hold
0C–5C
Buffet display
(no temperature control)
Room temperature for no more than 90 minutes,
then discard
Transport
Chilled
0C–5C
Frozen
-18C to –21°C
Hot
at or above 60°C
These critical limits meet the legal requirements and keep food safe;
however some establishments use different temperatures to extend shelf life
of products or meet their own Food Safety Standards. For example,
cook/chill kitchens chill foods more quickly than the above time and
temperature limits. Food may also be stored at lower temperatures —
around 2°C — which greatly increases the shelf life of these specifically
prepared foods. The table above shows critical limits for microbial growth
only. It is important to remember that we need to set critical limits for
control of physical and chemical hazards as well.
My workplace
Activity 4
Compile a list of existing critical limits in your workplace. Do they comply with the
food safety standards? If not, how would you alter them?
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 12 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
Answer:
Establish control documentation
Once the control measures and critical limits have been established for your
food business, its time to consider the documentation that needs to
accompany this information. Generally it will be in the form of either a
Standard Operating Procedure or a Work Instruction. These documents give
staff information on how to control food safety hazards at various stages of
production.
Standard operating procedures
Standard operating procedures are the establishment's operational
procedures and contingency plans. They cover all areas of production and
support functions, which contribute to the production (and safety) of the
final product. Standard operating procedures must comply with the Food
Safety Standards and any relevant industry codes. They give staff clear
direction for following sound hygiene procedures and often have associated
check sheets that provide a range of data.
A range of support programs, designed to control food safety hazards, may
be in place or may need to be developed. These support programs usually
take the form of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and are part of the
food safety manual. In our example of the Muddy Boots Café they include:

cleaning procedures

pest control program

maintenance and calibration schedules

supplier standards

standard recipe cards

allergen control

personal hygiene practices

product recall

opening & closing procedures

customer complaints.
The standard operating procedures give staff clear directions for following
sound hygiene procedures. When developing these standard operating
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 13 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
procedures, the food safety team at the Muddy Boots Café referred to Food
Safety Standard 3.2.2 Food Safety Practices and General Requirements and
Standard 3.2.3 Food Premises and Equipment. Both these standards are
mandatory, so by using the standards as a guide the café has ensured that it
complies with the legislation.
How to write a standard operating procedure
A standard operating procedure should contain:

the name of the task or procedure

the business name

the date and / or version number — this makes them easier to refer to

a clear and comprehensive description of the procedure in clear, plain
language

the purpose, scope, responsibilities and documentation for the procedure.
The purpose is to explain why the procedure has been written and what it
plans to achieve.
The scope of the procedure identifies where this policy will apply — the
products covered, the staff covered, locations or departments, etc.
The version date and version number will ensure currency and provide
evidence of monitoring and review.
Figure 2 shows an example of the Muddy Boots Café Standard Operating
Procedure (SOP) for pre-operational hygiene check. Other examples of
SOPs can be found in Section 2 of the sample Food Safety Manual.
Figure 2: Sample Muddy Boots Café Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for preoperational hygiene check.
SOP 1 PRE-OPERATIONAL HYGIENE CHECK
The Purpose:
This procedure outlines the steps you must follow to ensure that cleaning is
satisfactory prior to the start of food production. It applies to each area of
food preparation.
The Scope:

The pre-operational checklist is to be completed each day prior to the start of
food production.

Items to be checked will be listed and examined for cleanliness and state of
repair. Some equipment may need to be dismantled to determine if it is
satisfactory. The check will involve contact surfaces as well as all other
surfaces, eg under benches and overhead structures.
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 14 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice

Where equipment is found to be unclean, it will be cleaned before operations
commence. Where evidence of vermin contamination occurs, appropriate
action will be taken.

Items such as rust will be reported to the maintenance department and rectified
as soon as possible.

A supervisor will conduct the pre-operational hygiene check.
Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of all staff at the Muddy Boots Café to ensure
compliance with the above requirements.

The supervisor will be responsible for the monitoring and review of the
pre-operational check sheets. Action will be taken when items appear on a
regular basis.
Documentation
Pre-operational check sheet
Document No: FSP ___
Version No: 1
Date:_____________
Page __of __
Work instructions
Work Instructions (WI) provide detailed practical instructions and critical
limits that must be followed when handling food to ensure that food safety
requirements are met.
Work Instructions (WI) are directly linked to the Critical Control Point. A
work instruction is specific to the CCP step or process rather than a general
policy document. They are written in a similar style to standard operating
procedures.
Where a CCP has been identified, a WI is needed to ensure that the control
measures will be implemented correctly. The WI must give details of the
control measures necessary to limit every food safety hazard for the specific
CCP (temperature, time, etc) as well as the critical limits for each control
measure and the corrective action to be taken if a control measure is
breached. Each WI must have an accompanying check sheet for staff to
record that control measures have been monitored.
For example, the sample Food Safety Manual includes Work Instructions
for:

Receiving

Storage

Preparation

Cooking

Cooling procedures
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 15 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice

Re-heating procedures.
Examples of WI can be found in section 4 of the sample Food Safety
Manual. Sample check sheets related to each WI are contained in Section 6.
Summary
Hazard analysis and Critical Control Point systems will enable your food
business to ensure food production methods are safe, hygienic and that they
comply with food regulations and legislation. Food safety hazards that need
to be controlled are identified and control is achieved by setting clear food
safety policies, standard operating procedures, work practices and work
instructions.
More resources
Food Standards Australia website: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au
Hudson, P & Symonds, C (1996) Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Hodder &
Stoughton: London.
Merry, G (1997) Food Poisoning Prevention, 2nd Edition, Macmillan
Education: South Melbourne.
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 16 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
Sample answers to ‘My workplace’
questions
Activity 1
Your answer will depend on the size and type of the food service operation
you work in. If you work in a hospital kitchen using a cook/chill system, the
production process steps in your workplace may include:

receive

store

prepare

cook

chill

transport

store

heat

serve

discard
Activity 2
Hazard analysis for roast chicken.
Receive < 5ºC
Store < 5ºC
Prepare
Cook (CCP)
Serve
Discard
Identified hazards:

Physical

Biological

Chemical.
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 17 of 18
To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice
Control Measures:

receipt of fresh chicken temperature is at or below 5ºC

supplier assurance program

store at or below < 5ºCcover product

follow cleaning program

limit time for preparation using strict food and personal hygiene
procedures

ensure time and temperature requirements are followed.
Activity 3
Your answer will depend on the size and food service system used in your
workplace. Below is an example of the type of hazards that might occur.
By looking at the two ratings you will be able to determine the significance
of the hazard.
Severity
—
How harmful is the hazard to the consumer?
Likelihood
—
How likely is it that this hazard will occur?
Hazard
Severity
Likelihood
Significance
Egg shell in a sandwich
L
H
L
Undercooked roast chicken
H
H
H
Cool room operating at 6°C
L
L
L
Food handlers with no head covering
L
L
L
Activity 4
Your answer will depend on the size and type of food service operation you work
in. As an example, these are the critical limits set by a hospital transporting
cook/chill food:
Transport
Chilled
Frozen
Hot
0C–5C
-18C to -21°C
> 60°C
Food Safety Toolbox: Identify food safety hazards — Content guide
Page 18 of 18