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MANAGEMENT OF FOOD SAFETY

Score 5 — Good

A score of 5 indicates a good standard of compliance for the management of food safety at the time of your assessment.

This is a positive result, but there may still be areas where your food safety procedures, checks or staff practices can be strengthened. Start with any points identified by your food safety officer and use them to focus your improvements.

5
GOOD Good standard of compliance
✓

Review points raised during your inspection

✓

Strengthen any weaker procedures or checks

✓

Work towards Score 0 — Very good

i
Remember: Component scores work in the opposite direction to your overall food hygiene rating. For component scores, lower is better. A score of 5 is Good, while Score 0 represents Very good.

What does a management of food safety score of 5 mean?

A score of 5 indicates a good standard of compliance for the management of food safety.

This means your food safety management arrangements were generally effective, although the food safety officer may have identified some minor weaknesses in your procedures, checks, staff understanding or the way controls were being implemented.

Your inspection findings should always be your starting point. The areas below are useful to review when looking for ways to strengthen your food safety management and work towards Score 0 — Very good.

Food safety management procedures and checks in a commercial kitchen

Food safety procedures

Review whether your procedures still identify the important food safety hazards and controls relevant to the way your business currently operates.

Staff knowledge

Check that staff understand the procedures relevant to their work and are applying them consistently rather than relying on informal habits.

Checks & records

Review the checks used to confirm your controls are working and make sure any records accurately reflect what is happening in practice.

Ongoing management

Make sure problems are acted on, procedures are reviewed when things change and good food safety standards can be maintained consistently.

Your aim: Address the points raised during your inspection, strengthen any weaker procedures or management controls and work towards a consistently Very good standard.

WHERE TO LOOK

Areas worth reviewing

Your inspection findings should tell you where attention is needed. These four areas are useful prompts for reviewing your food safety management arrangements and checking whether minor weaknesses can be strengthened.

REVIEW 01

Food safety procedures

Are your procedures still suitable for your business?

Review whether your food safety procedures reflect the foods you handle, the processes you use and the way your business currently operates.

REVIEW 02

Staff knowledge

Do staff understand the controls relevant to their work?

Check that staff know the procedures they are expected to follow and can apply them consistently during normal day-to-day operation.

REVIEW 03

Checks & records

Do your checks show that controls are working in practice?

Review routine monitoring and any records you keep, making sure they are accurate, meaningful and used to identify problems rather than simply completed as paperwork.

REVIEW 04

Ongoing management

Are problems acted on and procedures reviewed when things change?

Check that weaknesses are corrected promptly and that procedures are reviewed when staff, menus, ingredients, equipment or processes change.

These are review prompts, not a diagnosis of your score. The reason your business received a 5 depends on what the food safety officer actually found during your assessment.

YOUR FINDINGS COME FIRST

Start with your inspection report

Generic guidance can help you review your food safety management arrangements, but it cannot tell you exactly why your business received a score of 5.

The most useful starting point is the report, letter or written findings provided following your inspection. Focus first on any specific weaknesses identified in your procedures, staff knowledge, checks, records or the way your controls were being implemented.

1

Read each finding

Identify exactly what the officer considered unsatisfactory or capable of improvement rather than trying to guess from the component score alone.

2

Take specific action

Correct the particular weakness raised and consider whether the same problem could affect other parts of your food safety management system.

3

Check the change is working

Do not stop once the immediate issue has been corrected. Check that staff understand the improved procedure and that your checks show it is working consistently in practice.

Your inspection findings take priority

If the officer has identified a particular issue, address that before working through broader improvement suggestions on this page. If any finding is unclear, ask your local authority or inspecting officer for clarification.

YOUR NEXT STEP

Moving towards Very good

A Score 5 already represents a good standard. The next objective is to address the minor weaknesses that remain and make your food safety management arrangements consistently very good.

5
GOOD Your current component score
WORK TOWARDS
0
VERY GOOD Best component score
1

Resolve the minor weaknesses

Work through the points identified during your inspection and make sure each weakness in your procedures, checks or staff practices has been properly addressed.

2

Make procedures work in practice

Check that your documented arrangements reflect what actually happens day to day and that staff consistently follow the controls relevant to their work.

3

Keep reviewing your system

Review procedures, checks and staff understanding periodically so that minor weaknesses are identified and corrected before they become established problems.

The goal is consistency

Addressing an individual issue does not automatically result in a Score 0. The aim is for very good standards to be evident across your procedures, staff knowledge, checks and day-to-day management when they are next assessed.

Strengthen your food safety management

Explore practical products to help improve day-to-day food safety management, from temperature monitoring and record keeping to labelling, allergen controls and staff guidance.

Use these alongside the specific actions identified during your inspection to help strengthen weaker procedures, improve monitoring and support more consistent food safety management.

View all products
IMPROVEMENT SELF-CHECK

Have you dealt with the issues identified?

Use this checklist after reviewing your inspection findings to help make sure weaknesses in your food safety management arrangements have been properly addressed rather than simply corrected temporarily.

✓

Have you identified every management issue raised?

Work through the officer’s findings individually so that no weakness in procedures, staff knowledge, checks or day-to-day management is overlooked.

✓

Do you understand why each weakness occurred?

Consider whether the issue resulted from an unsuitable procedure, unclear staff responsibilities, inadequate monitoring, poor record keeping or another weakness in your management system.

✓

Has the immediate issue been corrected?

Make sure the specific weakness identified during the inspection has actually been addressed and the appropriate control is now in place.

✓

Have you reduced the chance of it happening again?

Where needed, improve the underlying procedure, monitoring or management arrangement rather than relying on a one-off correction.

✓

Do the relevant staff understand what has changed?

Make sure anyone affected understands the updated procedure, their responsibilities and what is now expected of them.

✓

Have you checked that the improvement is working?

Review the area after the change has been introduced and confirm that procedures are being followed, checks are meaningful and the improved standard is being maintained in practice.

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