Summary
The increasing occurrence of complains from the consumers of bakery foods, the company’s researcher will have to carry a research on the companies attendance to the hygienic and food safety in relation to the requirements on the food safety act 1990.The researcher will have to confirm whether the related companies do adopt the health and safety laws about concerning their employees and the customers. The project is entailed on determining how the companies attend to their duties as required by the food regulation acts 2002 and food production (regulations) safety 2002. The research will involve questioning of the customers to inquire on the bases of their complaints.
Introduction
The customers of a bakery in town have of late reduced their consumption on the foods from the business after the manager of the bakery transferred to another branch. When interviewed, the customers say that there has been a major decline in the hygiene, quality of foods, and poor customer courtesy in delivering of the services. Reported cases of poor cooking and packaging have tremendously increased.
- Questionnaires; the customers took written questionnaires to fill them at their own free time and later return them after a week. This ensured that the identity of the participants remained concealed.
- Participative research; the researcher went in as a customer of the business and experienced the quality of service they offered without the workers having the knowledge of who he was. This method gives first-hand information to the researcher because he meets personally with the workers and gets to receive the exact service other customers receives (Heres,276).
- Placement of the customer’s complaints and comments box; the customers suggested for complaints box to be put at the exit place for them to be dropping their experiences on the bakery.
- Face to face, interview; this involved personally confronting the customers after service on whether they were appeased and what were the changes they would like done on the same.
Results and discussions
The report found that health and safety laws in the bakery are very important to the health and safety of both the employee and the consumers .The laws requires that the employees wear protective clothes, hair tights helmets, and safety shoes, be provided with a apparel changing room and also be protected from fire exposure. The baking room should be clean all the time. The law governing health and safety of bakery employees is the article 1 of Directive 89/686/EEC on personal protective equipment.
Use of hair tight helmets
The law requires all the employees of the bakery to wear hair tight helmets. The helmets prevent hair from the head of the employee falling into the bakery ingredients or bakery products. If the hair fells into the bakery ingredients and the bakery products it will undermine the consumer’s health as the consumers may take the hair together with food. The hair contaminates the food and may expose the consumers into health hazards. The bakery law requires all the employees of the bakery to wear hair tight helmets when they are in the bakery to minimize their hair falling into the bakery ingredients and products (Barnett, p.231). This ensures that the health of the consumers is taken care of. The research found that some employees of the bakery did not have helmets. Most of them were ladies who had long hair. This exposed the consumers into great health concerns. If the companies do not adopt these laws, the law will intervene and such companies will be held liable for the consequences caused by such negligence. Bakery companies are required to provide helmets to their employees as per the Directive 89/686/EEC on personal protective equipment.
Use of safety footwear
The law requires the employees to wear shoes such as boots. These shoes are used during baking. The footwear covers the whole part of foot. The employees should wear these shoes during baking process. The law requires that all the employees wear protective shoes which have metallic cover at the bottom to protect them (Heres, 287).
Clothe wearing and changing room
The employees should be provided with a room for wearing and changing the wearing apparel. The room should also be kept clean and separate from other rooms. It should also be kept in sanitary conditions (Connelly, 232).
Use of protective clothes
The law require employees to wear protective and safe clothes. These clothes include aprons. The employees need to wear aprons all the time when they are in work. This ensures health and safety of bakery employees. The research found out that some employees of the company did not have aprons while others had old and worn out ones. They complain that the manager was not supplying them with the aprons. This is not acceptable as per the Directive 89/686/EEC on personal protective equipment ( Heres, 301).
Personnel
The owner should not allow employment of any person suffering from infectious or contagious disease. Such a person will be detrimental to the public health. All the bakery employees’ should be free from contagious or infectious disease.(Connelly,p.332).
Protection from direct fire
During baking employees are protected from the exposure to fire. The law requires that the baking room should be free from excess heat.The room should have fire hydrants system in the factory for handling fire emergency. Normal inventories for controlling fire example the fire extinguishers, detectors of smoke and heat need to be installed in the bakery room
Conclusion
The research was conducted to know the extent to which companies dealing in bakery have adopted health and safety laws in bakery industries to protect their employees. The research-involved use of questionnaire, participative, placement of customers complains and faces to face interview. To protect the employees and consumers health and safety the bakery need to follow the law as required. The employees need to wear hair tight helmets, safety shoes and protective clothes. They need also to be safe from fire and communicable diseases. Apparel changing and wearing room need be provided to the employees. The Directive 89/686/EEC governing the safety and health of bakery workers and consumers provide safety requirements and penalties associated to these laws.
Recommendation
The companies need to adopt health and safety laws in bakery to protect their employees and the customers from dangers associated with bakery activities. If these companies adopt the safety and health laws, the employees, customers and the people around these companies will not face health problems. Company managers need to provide employees with the necessary protective clothes, foot wear as per the Directive 89/686/EEC on personal protective equipment.
Works Cited
Barnett, Anne. The Food Industry. Oxford: Heinemann Library, 2003. Print.
Connelly, Paul, and Malcolm Pittam. Practical Bakery. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1997. Print.
Heres, L., R. Hoogenboom, R. Herbes, W. A. Traag, and B. Urlings. "Tracing and analytical results of the dioxin contamination incident in 2008 originating from the Republic of Ireland." Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A (2010): n. pag. Print.
Nestle, M. "Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health." (2002): Print.
Tora, Brian, Frances Dumigan, and Keith Hayes. The Food Industry. Princeton, NJ N.p., n.d. Print.
