A hygiene officer is an important position and placement in the hotel or catering industry in UAE. To become a hygiene officer in UAE, one must be from a food science or food technology background. UAE has a strong foundation of a food control authority in its seven emirates. A hygiene officer plays a major role to comply food production with food safety laws in UAE.
The hotel and Catering industry is a fast-growing sector. So the quality and safety promise to their customers is very significant. Therefore hygiene officer leads the way to the promise.
Becoming a Hygiene Officer
In UAE, a hygiene officer is an important designation in Hotel and catering industry. For information UAE food control authority have numerous outstanding inspection taking place in the food handling industry. Therefore a hygiene officer is one who places a Food Safety Management System. Food safety policy is strictly applied to every step and node in food processing.
Qualifications for the Hygiene Officer position
- As previously said Hygiene officer must be from a food science background. Therefore qualifications in Hotel and catering industry prefer mostly graduation in Food Science or Food technology.
- Secondly must be well-versed in Quality Management systems based on hygiene, Standard Operating procedures (SOPs), and Auditing procedures.
- One must be well versed in Health and safety hazards identified in the workplace and surroundings. They must be well educated in the technical guidelines of OSHAD (Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems). Well-improved workplace safety must be implemented as per OSHAD.
- OSHAD Certificate- Occupational safety and health system of Abu Dhabi; A system developed to implement and establish safety requirements in the workplace. This includes safety, incident reduction and inspection in the government and private sector in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. OSHAD provides licensing and registration of professionals.
- Document Control- As always documents and records showcase food safety policies that are applied and met. Hygiene officers should be able to demonstrate their everyday duties. This is achieved by perfect and balanced document content.
- Integrated with Food safety and QHSE principles- Hygiene is attained through proper sanitation methods and principles. This in turn meets food safety objectives.
7. Skills- An officer must demonstrate high planning and organizing. Thereby implementation of local laws and safety practices must be on a hands skill.
8. Sanitation methods- A hygiene officer must be well-versed in the highest standards of sanitation and cleaning methods. Please refer to this for further details: Adopt the best sanitation facilities in the food industry
9. Meet the quality and safety goals in the hotel and catering industry.
10. Competent trainer training employees in food safety and occupational safety practices; well versed in ADFSA food handling practices, Dubai Food Code 2020, etc.
11. Inspection Specialists- An officer must investigate and also reduce hygiene incidents in their organization. Must handle and balance competent authority inspection. Reduce nonconformity from audits and authority inspection.
12. Knowledge of chemicals.
13. As well each learns production operations and knows the SOPs.
Certifications for a Hygiene Officer
When choosing a career in hygiene one must hold certain certifications besides educational qualifications. Food tech safety list below important certifications during your career:
- Mandatory certification programs as per OSHAD regulations.
- Food Hygiene Training certifications; supported certificates including ISO 450001:2018 lead auditor training
- Add on certifications to support food safety knowledge.
Author: Meera Jacob
A Food Safety Officer and Food Technologist in nature. Auditing and observing food safety systems is a prior interest. Writing and describing my experience is another passion. The food Industry is a diverse area with food safety as its prime focus to flourish. And that makes me more enthusiastic to work on various Non-Conformances and Risk Analysis. Happy Food Safetying to all Food Safety Professionals !!!
