Standard of Practice

With the recent and ongoing changes to food safety across Australia, EHA has responded by publishing a Food Safety Standard of Practice to assist Environmental Health Practitioners apply their knowledge and skills in a professionally responsible, accountable and consistent manner. This practice standard specifically addresses food safety assessment and related aspects of this function.

The purpose of the practice standard is to:

  • Provide guidance to EHPs;
    • In assessing outcome based standards;
    • Responding to non-compliance (in particular serious non-compliance); and
    • Allocate resources on a risk management basis.
  • Promote consistent and comprehensive assessment of all food handling activities by EHPs. An assessment tool named ‘Australian Food Safety Assessment’, or AFSA, has been produced to enable this.
  • Inform the food industry of the minimum standards against which food handling activities are assessed.

The Standard of Practice and AFSA is consistent with the National Food Safety Standards and can be applied to any food handling operation whether commercial, community, permanent or temporary.

Included in the practice standard is food safety policies, instructions on the use of AFSA (and a sample of AFSA), guidelines for setting and adjusting assessment frequency, guidance in managing serious non-compliance and useful internet sites and technical standards. An Explanation Guide is also provided for EHPs to reference and offer to business operators to explain what is considered during a food safety assessment.

Standard of Practice