Food Safety in Manufacturing: the Essentials

Your first days in a food factory or packing site come with a lot of new rules. This short course explains the food safety basics you need before you go on the line: what to do, what not to do, and what to tell someone.

Who this course is for

• New starters in food factories and packing sites
• Agency, temporary and seasonal workers
• People moving into food manufacturing from another job
• Employers who want a short food safety course for new production staff

What you’ll learn

• Why food safety matters in a factory, and your part in it
• Getting ready for the line: clothing, hair, jewellery and hand washing
• Illness, cuts and being fit for work, and what to report
• Keeping food clean and safe on the line, and keeping raw and ready-to-eat food apart
• Allergens, labels, temperatures and date marks
• Cleaning, pests, waste and speaking up

How it works

Six lessons, each split into short topics with a “Remember” box at the end. Every lesson finishes with its own assessment of 10 questions drawn at random from its question bank, so no two attempts are the same. The course ends with a final exam of 20 questions drawn from a bank of more than 40 covering everything. The pass mark is 80% and you get three attempts at each assessment. Finish the course and your certificate, with your name and a reference anyone can check, is issued to My Account → Certificates.

12 months’ access · any device · certificate the moment you pass

Worth being clear about: this is a short course for people starting work in food manufacturing. It is not a qualification, it does not replace your site’s own induction and rules, and it does not cover HACCP, traceability systems or supervisor duties. It points you to our fuller manufacturing course for those.

Course content

• Before you startLesson
• Starting work in a food factoryLesson
• Why one mistake can reach so many peopleTopic
• Four ways food can become unsafeTopic
• What the law expects of the business and of youTopic
• Your training, and your first-week questionsTopic
• Who checks the site, and where this course appliesTopic
• Scenario: Amy’s first morningTopic
• 🎮 Practice: The business and youTopic
• Lesson Assessment: Starting work in a food factoryQuiz
• Getting ready for the lineLesson
• Clothing and head coveringTopic
• Jewellery, watches and personal itemsTopic
• When to wash your handsTopic
• How to wash your handsTopic
• What not to do near foodTopic
• Scenario: A ring and a hairbandTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Washing your handsTopic
• Lesson Assessment: Getting ready for the lineQuiz
• Illness, cuts and being fit for workLesson
• Food poisoning in plain wordsTopic
• Tell your manager before you startTopic
• Illness at homeTopic
• Coming back after illnessTopic
• Cuts, sores and skin problemsTopic
• Scenario: An upset stomach on a busy morningTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Illness and coming backTopic
• Lesson Assessment: Illness, cuts and being fit for workQuiz
• Keeping food clean and safe on the lineLesson
• Contamination and cross-contaminationTopic
• Raw food and ready-to-eat food: keep them apartTopic
• Chemicals and packagingTopic
• Glass, plastic and metalTopic
• Faulty machines, missing parts and odd soundsTopic
• Scenario: A missing blade on the packing lineTopic
• 🎮 Practice: A part is broken or missingTopic
• Lesson Assessment: Keeping food clean and safe on the lineQuiz
• Allergens, labels, temperatures and datesLesson
• Allergens, and why they matterTopic
• Allergens on the lineTopic
• The right label on the right packTopic
• Keeping it cold and keeping it hotTopic
• Use by and best beforeTopic
• Older food first, and damaged stockTopic
• Scenario: The wrong wrapper on a palletTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Use by or best before?Topic
• Lesson Assessment: Allergens, labels, temperatures and datesQuiz
• Cleaning, pests, waste and speaking upLesson
• Why cleaning matters, and doing it your site’s wayTopic
• Cleaning and disinfecting safelyTopic
• Pests: who to tellTopic
• WasteTopic
• Speaking upTopic
• If a batch is put on holdTopic
• Scenario: A fly-killer unit and a damp patchTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Speaking upTopic
• Lesson Assessment: Cleaning, pests, waste and speaking upQuiz
• Course summaryLesson
• Final examQuiz