Standard questions for competence assurance forms
You’ll know that many of the elements of competence for your staff can be
evidenced by questions and answer session to test people’s understanding.
From example questions that have been used by your colleagues we have
collated some of the best ones and put them together for you to use.
You’ll see a group of example questions and standard answers for each
competence below. Please note that the answers are meant to be generally
applicable, and you should check any standards that apply to your particular
area of work, just to make sure they are right for you.
We want to keep adding to this resource to make your job in assessing staff
as simple and useful as possible. If you’d like to add to this or have any
queries on what’s here, please drop me a line at
[email protected]
Thanks!
Domenico D’Ambruoso
Learning and Development Manager
Competence - Food Hygiene
Question
What is meant by food
contamination?
Standard answer.
Food contamination is the presence
in food of any harmful substance or
object, known as a food hazard.
Personal Hygiene
1. There is a risk to of contamination
Can you explain to me the importance
of food
of personal Hygiene and the dangers 2. unpleasant for the customers and
of poor Personal Hygiene in the role
your colleges
you do
3. All clothing must be clean and
washed after each shift shoes to
Or
be kept clean
4. Hair to be covered by a hat or hair
What are the personal hygiene
net and hat
practices we expect in any of the
5. all ways wash your hands after
following areas:
breaks and after have a cigarette
and if handling different foods
- Uniform?
6. No jewellery to be worn while at
- Shoes / Safety Shoes?
work
- Hats?
7. all way report any infection or if
- Jewellery?
you feel unwell
8. all wounds and cuts to be covered
with a water proof blue plaster
Identify 3 unhygienic practices to be
avoided when preparing food
Nose picking
Coughing / sneezing
Nail biting
Scratching or touching face, head hair
or ears
Nail biting
Licking fingers
Smoking
Chewing gum and drinking
How would you store raw meat in
relation to cooked foods?
If possible, raw meat should be kept
in a sealed container, and if storing
raw and cooked meats in the same
fridge ensure that raw meats are
stored below cooked meats.
Explain what is meant by the danger
zone, in terms of food temperatures?
Bacteria that cause food poisoning
grow at temperatures between 5°c
and 63°c. They grow most rapidly at a
temperature of 37°c which is the
normal temperature of the human
body.
Competence - Food Hygiene
Question
Temperature Controls
Can you explain to me the importance
of
understanding
Temperature
controls in a variety of areas of work
and the role of the food safety
management system on board?
Standard answer.
Fridges
All fridge’s on the unit should run at a
temp of below 5 degrees
Freezers
Freezers should run at a temp of
below -18
Dishwasher
The dishwasher should wash at a
temp of 55 to 65 degrees and have a
rinse cycle of above 85 degrees
Times for temperature recording
The temperature of fridges and
freezers should be taken a recorded 2
a day Am & Pm
The temperature of the dishwasher
should be taken before each meal
service and recorded
Reporting Defects
Any defects found should be reported
to the chef Manager or if on night shift
to the NCB
Any defective equipment should not
be used until it has been fixed or told
to use once fixed by the chef
manager
What would you do if a freezer, Check the core temperature of the
chiller, hot press etc. was found to be food at risk. If the core temperature is
outwith the safe temperature range?
OK investigate an alternate store for
the food. Alert a supervisor.
Competence - Food Hygiene
Question
Standard answer.
What can you tell me about how we Use the “first in, first out” (FIFO in
store our food on the unit?
accounting) rule meaning that foods
should be used in the order they are
delivered.
Date goods and place the new behind
the old on your storage shelves.
Keep all foods wrapped and clean.
Each item in your walk-in refrigerator,
freezer and your dry storage should
be in a sealed labelled container or
package with the contents and date
received.
Store raw meat and poultry in clean,
sealed containers on the bottom shelf
of the fridge, so they can't touch or
drip onto other food.
Cooked and raw meat should be
stored separately
For Chefs / Chef Managers
HACCP consists of seven
important steps to ensure food
Explain the HACCP system, how it is safety
managed and maintained
The 7 steps of HACCP are as
follows
Assess hazards and potential risks.
Identify critical control points including
cross contamination, cooking,
cooling, hygiene.
Set up procedures to make sure
safety is maintained at all critical
control points.
Monitor critical control points and use
the correct signs, tools, and training
materials to ensure this.
Take corrective actions as soon as a
critical control point is in jeopardy or
when any violations are pointed out
by annual audit
Set up a record-keeping system to log
all of your flowcharts and temperature
checks
Keep up with the system to make
sure it is working.
Competence – Manual Handling
Question
What responsibilities do employees
have under the Manual Handling
Operation Regulations 1992? (name
at least 2)
It’s always important to think and plan
the lift before carrying it out. Can you
give at least 2 examples of things you
should consider before carrying out
the lift?
Standard answer.
Employees have general health and
safety duties to:
- follow appropriate systems of
work laid down for their safety
- make proper use of equipment
provided for their safety
- co-operate with their employer on
health and safety matters
- inform the employer if they
identify hazardous handling
activities
- take care to ensure that their
activities do not put others at risk
Check the weight of item
Potential hazards in the area
Your posture and position
Route
Investigate alternatives to carrying
You come across an item which is too See if there are lifting aids that can
heavy to lift by yourself. Give at least help you
2 suggestions of what you might do.
See if there are colleagues that can
assist
Speak to your supervisor
See if the item can be broken up into
smaller lifting ‘chunks’
At what age are you most likely to
Under 25
suffer back pain?
Which is the worst position for your
back?
Bending forwards and twisting
Competence 2 – Manual Handling
Question
Which of the following can cause
back problems?
-
Standard answer.
Answer, all of them
Poor workplace design
Working in fixed positions
Driving
Poor posture
Which of the following structures can
be damaged by poor manual
handling?
- Nerves
- Discs
- Muscles
- Ligaments
Answer, all of them
Competence – Safe Systems of Work
Question
Standard answer.
What is your understanding of the
It is a logical and practical approach
purpose of a safe system of work on
to documenting all the hazards, safety
board (or on site)?
precautions and safe working
practices associated with all activities
performed by employees.
What would you do if a piece of
equipment stopped working, or
started to malfunction?
Switch off, isolate and seek
assistance from a supervisor. Do not
use.
Where would you find the unit or
site’s safe system of work?
Site specific
What fire fighting equipment and
alarms do we have in place around
our work areas?
Site specific
If there was a fire in your area of
work, what would you do?
Site specific
Fire safety incident
1. First I would raise the alarm by
hitting a fire alarm box or call the
control room
2. Make sure that you hit the
emergency shut down switch out
side the galley/laundry
3. make sure the area is clear of all
personal
4. if safe to do so and you feel
comfortable to do so try to tackle
the fire your self
Can you explain to me what you
would do if you came across a fire or
smoke in the galley/accommodation
Can you explain to me the procedure
for reporting Defective Equipment as
part of the Safe Systems of work?
1. First isolate the piece of defective
equipment
2. Report to your line manager or the
onboard REP
3. Place a do not use sign on
defective equipment
4. Make everybody aware of the
defective equipment
Competence – Risk Assessment
Question
What is a risk assessment?
Standard answer.
A systematic method of looking at
work activities, considering what
could go wrong and deciding on
suitable control measures to prevent
loss, damage or injury in the
workplace. The assessment should
include the controls required to
eliminate, reduce or minimise risks.
Why should you conduct risk
assessments?
Our aim is to reduce risks as far as
reasonably practical. Risk
assessment helps you identify risks
that we can put ourselves, our clients
or others at through doing our work.
Once we know what the risks are, we
can put in place suitable controls.
When should you do a risk
assessment?
You should carry out an assessment
before you do work which presents a
risk of injury or ill-health, if there are
changes to procedures or equipment
or if advised my your supervisor.
How do I do a risk assessment?
Start by:
-
-
identifying what can cause harm
to people in your workplace;
identifying who might be harmed
and how;
evaluating the risks and deciding
on the appropriate controls,
taking into account the controls
you already have in place
recording your risk assessment;
reviewing and updating your
assessment
What is a hazard?
A hazard is anything that may cause
harm e.g. chemicals, electricity,
working from ladders, noise etc.
What is a risk?
Risk is the chance, high or low, of
somebody being harmed by the
hazard, and how serious the harm
could be.
Competence - COSHH
Question
Complete the blanks
Standard answer.
Control of Substances Hazardous to
Health
C_____________ of
S_____________ Hazardous to
H___________
Name 3 Golden Rules from the
Sodexo CoSHH training.
1. Use the right chemicals for the job
2. Never mix chemicals
3. Add chemical to water, not water
to chemical
4. Use protective clothing &
Equipment
5. Use dispensing Equipment where
possible
6. Never taste or smell chemicals
7. Never use unknown chemicals
8. Always read the label
9. Store chemicals in original
containers
10. Safely dispose of empty
containers
11. Report chemical problems to
supervisor
Name 3 items you would find on a
safety data sheet
1. Identification of product and
company
2. Composition/Information on
Ingredients
3. Hazard Identification
4. First aid measures
5. Fire-fighting measures
6. Accidental release measures
7. Handling and storage
8. Exposure controls/Personal
protection
9. Physical and chemical properties
10. Stability and reactivity
11. Toxicological information
12. Ecological information
13. Disposal considerations
14. Transport information
15. Regulatory information
Competence - COSHH
Question
Different chemicals require different
types of PPE to be worn. How would
you know what PPE should be used
for each different chemical and where
would you find this information?
It is important to store chemicals in
the original containers, why is this
and where should they be stored?
Standard answer.
- CoSHH Assessments
- Safety Data Sheets
- Label of the products
Possible answers but not limited to:
It’s important to store chemicals in
their original containers so that they
are easily identifiable.
All chemicals when not in use should
be store in the CoSHH store located
in the Hygiene store on Ground floor
so that only authorised personnel can
get access to them (site specific).