Lack of Dietary Staff Training and Competency in Food Safety Procedures
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that dietary support personnel were competent to safely and effectively perform the functions of the food and nutrition service. Observations and interviews revealed that multiple dietary staff members, including dietary aides and cooks, had not received training on essential kitchen procedures such as properly washing and sanitizing dishes, setting up a 3-compartment sink, checking and recording dishwasher temperatures and sanitizer levels, or following recipes for preparing pureed foods. Staff members admitted to not performing or recording required sanitation checks and food temperature monitoring, and personnel files lacked documentation of training specific to these tasks. The dietary manager confirmed that food temperatures and sanitation logs were not being monitored or recorded as required by facility policy, and acknowledged that oversight of these processes had not occurred. High turnover in the kitchen resulted in most dietary staff being new and untrained, with the dietary manager responsible for training but failing to ensure staff competency. These deficiencies had the potential to affect all 89 residents who received meals prepared and served from the kitchen.