How to train new kitchen staff on day one: a food safety induction plan

You have just hired a new cook or kitchen assistant, they start on Monday, and the rota says they are on the line by lunch. Before that happens they need a food safety induction for new staff that takes a few hours, not a few weeks. Without it, the first thing they learn is whatever the busiest person in the kitchen happens to do.

Here is the first day plan we use with restaurants, canteens and bakeries. It fits into the morning, and it leaves you with a signed record that counts.

Before they touch food: the health declaration and illness rule

The very first conversation, before the uniform and before the tour, is about health. Ask the new starter to complete a short health declaration that covers:

• Any diarrhoea, vomiting or fever in the last few days.
• Any infected cuts, boils, weeping skin conditions or discharges from the eyes, ears or nose.
• Recent contact with someone who had a stomach illness.

Then explain the rule clearly: if you have any of these symptoms, you phone the person in charge before your shift and you do not come into the kitchen. Make it clear they will not be in trouble for reporting. R638 places the duty on the person in charge to keep people with conditions that can contaminate food away from food handling, and on food handlers to report. The declaration is where both start.

Store the form confidentially, because it contains health information.

Hour one: handwashing, uniform and personal items

Handwashing at the basin

Do not explain handwashing. Show it, then watch them do it at the actual hand basin they will use. Cover:

• When: on entering the kitchen, after the toilet, after handling raw meat, eggs or unwashed vegetables, after touching the face, phone, money or bins, after cleaning and after breaks.
• How: wet hands, soap, rub all surfaces including thumbs, between fingers and under nails, rinse, dry with a paper towel and use it to close the tap.
• Where: only at the hand basin, never at the food preparation sink.

Uniform and personal items

Issue the uniform on the day, not “next week when stock arrives”. Explain hair covering, clean protective clothing that is only worn at work, short clean nails, no nail polish or false nails and no jewellery apart from what your policy allows. Show them where to keep phones, bags and food, which is away from the preparation area. Explain that plasters on hands should be the brightly coloured, waterproof kind (easy to spot if one falls into food), and show them where the first aid kit is.

Hour two: the kitchen tour, colour codes and the danger zone

Walk the route food takes, from delivery to service, and stop at each point. At each stop, say what can go wrong and what the new person must do.

• Receiving and storage. Raw meat below ready-to-eat food, everything covered, labelled and dated. First in, first out.
• Colour coding. Which boards, knives and cloths are for raw meat, poultry, fish, vegetables and cooked food. Point to the chart on the wall.
• Cleaning chemicals. Where they are kept, which one is the sanitiser and why you never decant into an unmarked bottle.
• The danger zone. The temperature band in which bacteria multiply quickly, commonly taught as about 5°C to 60°C. Explain why food must not sit out on the counter, and how cooked rice left warm can allow Bacillus cereus spores to germinate, grow and produce a vomiting toxin that reheating does not destroy.
• Allergens. Where the allergen information is kept and the rule that any customer question about allergens goes to the person in charge. For more on this, see our allergen management page.

Finish at the person in charge’s desk or office and tell them who to tell when something goes wrong: a fridge reading high, a pest sighting, a burnt hand or food that looks or smells off.

A short scenario

A canteen in Pietermaritzburg hired a general assistant during a busy month and put her on the wash up the same morning. By Wednesday she was helping portion cold salads, and nobody had shown her the colour code. She used a red board that had just been used for raw chicken. A supervisor caught it, but only by chance. The fix cost nothing: the manager now blocks the first two hours of every new starter’s shift for induction, and the rota is written around it.

What a new starter may and may not do in week one

Induction is not full training, so limit the risk until they have more of both.

May do in week one	Should not do alone in week one
Wash up and clean under supervision	Cook or cool high risk food
Prepare raw vegetables and fruit	Handle allergen orders or answer allergen questions
Restock dry goods and packaging	Take or sign off cooking, cooling or hot holding temperature checks
Assist an experienced cook	Receive and accept deliveries

Pair them with a named buddy, not “whoever is on”. Adjust the list to your menu and your risks.

Signing off a food safety induction for new staff so it counts as a training record

An EHP or auditor will ask how you know staff are trained. A conversation in the passage does not count. A signed induction checklist does. For each item, record:

• The topic, for example “handwashing demonstrated and observed”.
• The date and the trainer’s name and signature.
• The new starter’s signature, confirming they understood.

Keep it on the staff training file with the health declaration. The Basic Food Safety Document Templates Toolkit includes induction, training register and health declaration templates you can adapt, so you are not building forms from scratch on a Monday morning.

At the end of week one, spend ten minutes asking questions. Can they show you the handwashing steps? Which board for raw chicken? What do they do if they have a runny tummy on Sunday night? Note the answers on the checklist.

Moving from induction to formal food handler training

R638 requires the person in charge to make sure food handlers are trained in food hygiene, and the induction is only the first step. Book formal training within the first few weeks, while the habits are still forming. Our Basic Food Safety Practices for Food Handlers course is online, so new staff can complete it between shifts, and you receive a certificate for their file. For a view of all the options, see our food safety training overview.

What to do this week

• Print a health declaration and an induction checklist and keep them ready.
• Block the first two hours of the next new starter’s first shift on the rota.
• Name a buddy for each new person.
• Check that the colour code chart and handwashing sign are on the wall and readable.
• Book formal food hygiene training for anyone who started in the last month without it.

Frequently asked questions

Do casual and part time staff need the same induction?

Yes. Bacteria do not care about employment contracts. A shorter shift is not a reason for a shorter induction on the health, handwashing and colour code basics.

Can the induction be done in a home language?

It should be done in the language the person understands best. Record the language used on the checklist, and use a trusted colleague to help explain if needed.

Is the induction enough on its own for the EHP?

It shows you have started, but it is not a substitute for formal food hygiene training. Use it to bridge the gap until formal training is complete.