Canteen & Food Safety Assistant

• Inspect preparation surfaces, equipment, utensils, sinks, storage areas, and serving stations prior to operations to confirm readiness and cleanliness
• Monitor food handlers for compliance with personal hygiene standards including handwashing, proper uniforms, hair coverings, glove use, and illness reporting
• Inspect incoming food materials for packaging damage, visible deterioration, contamination, expiration, incorrect storage, or pest activity
• Measure and record temperatures of freezers, refrigerators, heated holding units, and cooked items using approved thermometers according to schedule
• Enforce proper separation of raw meats, vegetables, prepared foods, ready to eat items, allergens, and cleaning chemicals to prevent cross contamination
• Oversee meal service areas to ensure safe food handling, clean serving utensils, food protection, and orderly waste disposal
• Follow established cleaning and sanitizing schedules for all food preparation zones, utensils, cooking equipment, dining spaces, and waste facilities
• Verify food stock rotation using FIFO and FEFO principles to identify and remove expired or damaged supplies
• Maintain complete and accurate monitoring logs for temperatures, cleaning activities, food deliveries, pest observations, and corrective actions
• Assist in reviewing worker reported food quality concerns while deferring medical or technical determinations to qualified staff

Qualifications & Experience:

• Degree, Diploma, Certificate, National Certificate, technical certificate, or vocational catering qualification in Food Science, Nutrition, Catering, Hospitality Management, Hotel Management, Food Production, Public Health, Environmental Health, Home Economics, Community Nutrition, Food Processing, or related disciplines
• Recognized food handler training certification; UACE or UCE combined with successful completion of structured food safety training
• No prior work experience required; structured training provided during the one month onboarding period

Skills & Competencies:

• Hygiene monitoring and contamination risk identification
• Knowledge of safe food temperatures, cross contamination prevention, and safe food storage
• Basic numeracy for reading thermometers, logging records, and checking stock rotation
• Application of FIFO and FEFO inventory rotation methods
• Respectful and constructive communication for promoting peer hygiene compliance