Last update:

15-Apr-2006

HAZARD ANALYSIS

Hazard Analysis means you should look at your business operation, identify things with the potential to cause harm to consumers, and put in place appropriate controls to minimise such risks.

Identify potential hazards

Hazards are things that may harm the consumer through injury or illness.

The 3 main hazards are contamination of food by:

• Harmful bacterial or moulds (this is the most important and difficult to control)

• Chemicals (cleaning chemicals or pest baits)

• "Foreign" objects (glass, metal, insects)

Identify the areas/steps where the hazards might occur

You must be thorough, look at every step from purchasing ingredients to serving your customer.

Identify the areas/steps that are critical to ensuring food safety

These steps are called ‘critical control points’ and they are the steps in the food operation where controls should be introduced to remove or reduce hazards to a safe level.

Introduce controls for the hazards identified

Monitor the controls to check that they are effective.

Maintain and review the controls

SAFAS can advise you on producing a Hazard Analysis for your business.