By law food business operators must make sure that any staff handling food are supervised and instructed, and/or trained, in food hygiene in a way that is appropriate for the work they do.
For food handlers, the balance between the amount of supervision and instruction and/or training required will need to be decided on a case-by-case basis and will depend on a variety of factors.
Formal courses are available in the form of the Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering, Level 3 Award in Supervising Food Safety in Catering, and Level 4 Award in Managing Food Safety in Catering.
You and your staff might have different training needs, so you should consider each member of staff in turn. You may need to make special arrangements for any staff whose first language is not English or for those who have literacy problems.
It is good practice for a business to keep records of training completed by every member of staff, to demonstrate individual levels of competence.
Where to obtain Food Hygiene Training
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health website will be able to provide you with details of training centres that run food hygiene courses. They can also provide details of trainers who run courses in languages other than English. Their telephone number is 02079 286006 or visit their website at
Additional Advice For Food Business Operators
Further advice in respect of food hygiene training can also be obtained by contacting the Commercial Team within the Environmental Health Service. Advice and supporting materials for food business operators is available at
Contact Information
Commercial Team
Telephone Number: 01495 369542
Address: Public Protection – Environmental Health, General Offices, Steelworks Road, Ebbw Vale, NP23 6DN
Email Address: environmental.health@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk