Report Title:
Food Handlers; Mandatory Training; Certification
Description:
Enacts the Food Employee Certification Act to require the department of health to regulate food handling in the State. Requires supervisory employees in food establishments to be certified following the completion of a training program recommended by an advisory board and approved by the department.
|
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2058 |
|
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002 |
||
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
||
|
|
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to Food Employee Certification.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to maximize the protection of public health in Hawaii by minimizing the occurrence of food borne illness through the mandatory training and certification of food handlers.
The legislature finds that Hawaii consumers, the food industry, and its vitally important tourism industry are impacted by perceptions concerning food safety. Pacific Rim cuisine and locally prepared foods have become an increasingly important aspect of Hawaii’s tourism product and visitor experience. In addition, the possible liability arising from an incident of food borne illness from a food establishment can have an economically devastating impact upon that business due to lawsuits, medical bills, increased insurance premiums, and negative word-of-mouth publicity. A food establishment can lower or even eliminate its exposure to litigation from outbreaks by implementing a recognized educational program on food safety.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that food borne diseases (known, unknown, infectious, and noninfectious) cause approximately seventy-six million illnesses, three hundred twenty-five thousand hospitalizations, and five thousand deaths in the United States each year. There are more than two hundred known diseases transmitted through food and the causes include bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins, metals, and prions.
In Hawaii, recent data from the epidemiology branch of the state department of health indicated that the number of food borne gastroenteritis outbreaks increased from fifty-seven in 1996 to seventy-four in 1998, before declining to twenty-seven in 1999. It is now accepted that campylobacteriosis leads all food borne illness in Hawaii. The summary of data from the department of health indicated that campylobacteriosis increased from eight hundred fifty-four cases in 1996 to eight hundred eighty-four cases in 1999. In addition, occurrence in food of the dangerous microorganism, E. coli 0157:H7, increased from eight cases in 1996 to fifteen cases in 1999. Another food borne illness with destructive consequences is listeriosis that increased from one case in 1996 to seven cases in 1999.
The legislature finds that although public health is currently protected through both mandatory and non-mandatory measures, there is a specific need for additional mandatory training for food handlers. Existing mandatory food safety requirements include rules of the department of health pursuant to which the department conducts inspections of all food establishments. It was only after 1996, however, that the department began gathering data to track food-related inspections. Between August 1, 1997 and May 30, 2001, the food and drug branch of the department of health conducted 4949 inspections of 1771 food establishments. There were a total of 4902 violations or almost one violation per inspection. Of these violations, 2670 (fifty-four and five-tenths per cent) were critical, i.e., violations that directly affected food safety and therefore, the public health. Although these mandatory inspections are effective, they are limited by the number of inspectors and the number of inspections conducted.
Since 1991, the department of health has had a voluntary educational program for food handlers. This program is conducted by the department's sanitation branch and is similar to the National Restaurant Association’s "ServSafe" training program. However, the legislature finds that a mandatory program to train supervisory employees in principles of food safety and handling, rather than a purely voluntary program, is necessary to better protect the public health.
As important as it may be to require mandatory training for employees in food service establishments, the legislature finds that it would be unnecessary to the point of overkill to require all food handlers (which by definition would include thousands of entry level employees) to go through mandatory training and certification. This would place an unreasonable burden upon food service establishments, many of whom are small businesses. The legislature believes that targeting supervisory employees would be a more reasonable and less burdensome approach that will still achieve satisfactory results. Supervisory employees who are trained in the principles of food safety are in a position to pass on their knowledge to the lower and entry-level employees, thereby promoting protection of the public health.
As conceived in this Act, supervisory employees will be certified by the department upon completion of the required training program. The program itself shall be one that is approved by the department of health after being recommended by an advisory board that is appointed by the governor. Rather than mandating training for all food handlers, this Act instead requires that each food establishment have one or more key individuals who are trained and certified. In enacting this Act, the legislature is calling upon food establishments to provide an important investment in this nation’s and this State’s scheme to protect the health of the consuming public. All reasonable steps should be taken to promote public confidence in the cleanliness, sanitation, and safety of the foods they consume. This Act is one of those steps.
SECTION 2. The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"CHAPTER
FOOD EMPLOYEE CERTIFICATION
§ -1 Short title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Food Employee Certification Act.
§ -2 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
"Advisory board" or "board" means the food employee certification advisory board established by this chapter.
"Bed and breakfast operation" means a detached single-family dwelling unit that:
(1) Is occupied and operated by the owner-proprietor or lessee-proprietor;
(2) Provides accommodations for periods of thirty consecutive days or less to any individual guest for compensation;
(3) Includes bedrooms, a kitchen, and other living accommodations for the owner-proprietor or the lessee-proprietor; and
(4) Provides not more than five additional bedrooms for short-term rental to guests.
"Department" means the department of health.
"Food establishment" means a room, building, place, or portion thereof, or vehicle maintained, used, or operated for the purpose of selling to the public, commercially storing, packaging, making, cooking, mixing, processing, bottling, baking, canning, freezing, packing, or otherwise preparing, transporting, or handling food. The term includes lunch wagons, retail food stores, and public eating and drinking licensees, except those portions of establishments operating exclusively under milk or milk products permits and those portions of establishments operating exclusively under United States Department of Agriculture inspection. The term does not include a bed and breakfast operation.
"Lunch wagon" means a mobile vehicle designed and constructed to transport food and from which food is sold to the general public, and includes manapua trucks.
"Potentially hazardous food" means a food which consists in whole or in part of milk or milk products, eggs, meats, poultry, fish, shellfish, edible crustaceans, or other ingredients, including synthetic ingredients, and which is in a form capable of supporting rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxicogenic microorganisms. The term does not include foods that have a pH level of 4.6 or below or a water activity of 0.85 or less under standard conditions or food products in hermetically sealed containers processed to maintain commercial sterility.
"Public eating and drinking place" means any retail eating establishment where meals or food are served or provided for on-site consumption by seated patrons that is authorized by the department to operate as a food service establishment.
"Supervisory employee" means the owner of a food establishment or a person employed by or designated by an owner to fulfill the requirements of this chapter.
§ -3 Food employee certification advisory board; establishment, membership, appointment, and compensation; certification programs. (a) The food employee certification advisory board is established within the department of health for administrative purposes.
(b) The board shall consist of the following members to be appointed by the governor as provided in section 26-34:
(1) The director of health, or the director's designee, who shall serve as chairperson of the board;
(2) Representatives of, or persons with experience in, the following areas: milk dealers, restaurants, food merchants, convenience stores, bakers, food processors, production agriculture, and food services; and
(3) Persons having experience in the areas of consumer safety, public health, and food handling.
(c) In carrying out its duties under this section, the board may request staff assistance from the department of health and other appropriate state agencies. The board may also employ, without regard to chapter 76, and at pleasure dismiss such persons as it finds necessary for the performance of its functions and fix their compensation.
(d) The members of the board shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for expenses, including travel expenses, necessary for the performance of their duties.
(e) The advisory board shall review and recommend certification programs submitted by individuals or organizations to ensure adequate training of supervisory employees of food establishments.
§ -4 Certification of supervisory employees; examination; compliance; maintenance and inspection of records; training program; fees. (a) Each food establishment shall have a supervisory employee who holds a valid department food employee certificate. Food establishments shall maintain certification records for supervisory employees.
(b) Supervisory employees shall be certified by the department following the completion of a training program recommended by the advisory board and approved by the department.
(c) The department shall adopt food safety protection and training standards for the certification of supervisory employees who are responsible for the storage, preparation, display, or serving of foods to the public in establishments regulated by the department or county health organizations. These standards shall be adopted by the department to ensure that, upon successfully passing an examination, the supervisory employee has demonstrated adequate food protection knowledge. These standards shall also provide for a certification program that authorizes private or public agencies to conduct and approve examinations and certify the results of these examinations to the department. At least one supervisory employee of a food establishment shall have passed the examination and received a certificate attesting to that fact. Supervisory employees shall have a period of ninety days after employment to pass the required examination.
(d) No certificate shall be issued unless the applicant has successfully completed a training course and passed an examination recommended by the advisory board and approved by the department.
(e) Compliance with this chapter by a food establishment shall be mandatory after July 1, 2003. A food establishment exempt under section -8 may voluntarily seek certification under this section.
(f) Food establishments that are not in compliance because of employee turnover or other loss of certified personnel shall have ninety days from the date of loss of certified personnel to comply with the requirements of this chapter.
(g) Names and certificate numbers of certified personnel shall be maintained at the place of business and shall be made available for inspection by the department.
(h) Certification shall be in effect for a period of five years. Renewal of certification shall be based on the completion of courses recommended by the advisory board and approved by the department. The courses shall not include a written examination.
(i) Training programs to prepare candidates for certification examinations and the administration of the examination shall be made available throughout this State through cooperation with the private sector and approved by the department. The department shall develop and administer a training program for food establishments voluntarily seeking certification under subsection (e).
(j) The department shall issue or approve the issuance of a certification document to the person upon the successful completion of the approved training program. A fee of $25 shall be charged by the department for this service unless changed by the department by rule.
§ -5 Reciprocal agreements. The department may accept certifications issued in other states that have comparable requirements for certification, provided that the department and the appropriate authority in the other state have entered into a reciprocal agreement to accept each state's certification program as meeting the requirements of this chapter.
§ -6 Suspension of certification. Certification may be suspended or revoked by the department if the holder or person fails to comply with this chapter, applicable provisions of chapter 328, or other applicable federal, state, or county laws. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91, which shall be updated from time to time, specifying the specific federal, state, and county laws with which certificate holders shall be required to comply. Prior to suspension or revocation, the certificate holder shall be given notice and the opportunity for a hearing before the department.
§ -7 Civil penalties. Any person or food establishment who violates this chapter or any rule adopted or an order issued pursuant to this chapter shall be fined not more than $300 for the first offense and not more than $1,000 for each subsequent offense. Each date of violation shall constitute a separate offense. Any action taken to impose or collect the penalty provided for in this section shall be considered a civil action. No civil penalty shall be assessed unless the person charged has been given notice and opportunity for a hearing on the charge in accordance with applicable law.
§ -8 Exemptions. The following food establishments or facilities are exempt from the requirements of this chapter:
(1) A food establishment where only commercially prepackaged food is handled and sold;
(2) A food establishment that handles only nonpotentially hazardous food;
(3) A food manufacturing facility which is engaged in the manufacture of prepackaged foods and which does not manufacture potentially hazardous food;
(4) A food establishment managed by an organization which is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (Public Law 99-514, 26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3));
(5) A food establishment managed on a not-for-profit basis by an organization which is a volunteer fire company or an ambulance, religious, charitable, fraternal, veterans, civic, agricultural fair, or agricultural association, or any separately chartered auxiliary of any of the above associations; and
(6) A food establishment managed by an organization which is established to promote and encourage participation and support for extracurricular recreational activities for youth of primary and secondary public, private, and parochial school systems on a not-for-profit basis.
§ -9 Rulemaking. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 as may be necessary to implement this chapter."
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
|
INTRODUCED BY: |
_____________________________ |