Food safety records for mining and remote sites
Crews on a swing roster, crib boxes packed before dawn, deliveries days apart by road and a connection that comes and goes. Readings are taken in the camp kitchen.
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Checklists that follow the roster, not the calendar
A camp on fourteen days on and seven off does not change over on the same weekday each month. A checklist can repeat every so many days counted from a date you choose, so a changeover list falls on each changeover day. Another can fall on a set number of days each month chosen at random, the same days for everyone on site, which suits a spot check nobody plans around.
A day in your camp kitchen
- 01
Crib boxes before dawn
The preparation time log shows how long food was out of the fridge.Packed lunches for day shift are made early and kept cold until pick up. The preparation time log shows how long food was out of the fridge while they were made.
Recorded in Today's Tasks and checklists
- 02
The delivery truck
The receiving log records the supplier and the temperature on arrival.Chilled and frozen stock arrives days apart. The receiving log records the supplier and the temperature on arrival, and anything that arrived thawed is set aside.
Recorded in Today's Tasks and checklists
- 03
Bulk cooling after dinner
Large batches cooked for night shift are cooled from 60°C to 21°C within two hours and to 5°C within a further four, with each step logged.Large batches cooked for night shift are cooled from 60°C to 21°C within two hours and to 5°C within a further four, with each step logged.
Recorded in Today's Tasks and checklists
- 04
Meals out to the work area
Hot boxes sent to a crib room are logged with the date and the temperature, or the time in transit.Hot boxes sent to a crib room are logged with the date and the temperature, or the time in transit.
Recorded in Today's Tasks and checklists
- 05
A reading with no signal
If the connection drops as a reading is saved, the reading stays on screen and you are told it was not sent, so it can be saved again once the signal returns.If the connection drops as a reading is saved, the reading stays on screen and you are told it was not sent, so it can be saved again once the signal returns.
Recorded in Today's Tasks and checklists
- 06
Crew changeover
The incoming supervisor reads the open corrective actions from the last swing before taking over, so nothing is left half done.The incoming supervisor reads the open corrective actions from the last swing before taking over, so nothing is left half done.
Recorded in Corrective actions
A supervisor on every swing
- 5 years
- How recent the supervisor's certificate must be, counted from the day it was issued.
- About a month
- The absence after which guidance suggests appointing a replacement.
- Every shift
- A supervisor is reasonably available whenever food is handled, on day and night crews alike.
Each supervisor's certificate sits in Documents with its expiry date, and a reminder comes before it runs out. The roster can require a Food Safety Supervisor on every shift, and a certificate past its date stops counting, so a gap in the next swing shows before the crew arrives.
A starter checklist set
For a camp kitchen we would keep the standard lists and add crib box preparation and transport to work areas as daily checks.
Start free trialOpening cool room, fridge and freezer checks
Receiving deliveries log, on delivery days
Thawing and preparation time log, for crib boxes
Cooking and pathogen reduction log
Cooling log
Hot holding temperatures
Transport temperature log, for meals sent to work areas
Staff fitness for work
Daily cleaning and sanitising sign off
Pest check
Weekly deep clean
Stock rotation and use by audit
Probe thermometer calibration
Chemical safety check
Premises and equipment condition
Food Safety Supervisor and training register
Every new venue opens with the same standard daily, weekly and monthly lists. This is how we suggest shaping them, and every check and every list can be changed or deleted.
When the site operator asks for your records
Food law asks a camp kitchen for no written program and no third party audit. A contract with the site operator may ask for more, and that is a term of the contract. The record book prints the dates the operator asks about, with only the sections they want:
- Checks
- Temperature readings
- Corrective actions
- Incidents
- Documents held
- The training register
What applies to you
A camp kitchen that cooks for crews is usually category one under Standard 3.2.2A, like any kitchen that turns unpackaged potentially hazardous food into meals that are ready to eat.
- Food safety supervisorApplies
- Reasonably available on every swing and every shift. Where crews rotate, supervisors may need to rotate with them.
- Food handler trainingApplies
- Cooks, kitchen hands and utility staff who handle food need a course, or skills and knowledge that match the work, before they first carry out a prescribed activity. No certificate is required.
- Records, or another way to show controlApplies
- Keep records of storage, cooking, cooling, transport to work areas and cleaning where you do them, or show an authorised officer another way. Records you keep are held for at least three months and available at the premises whenever the kitchen operates.
- A written food safety program
- A camp kitchen in WA needs no written food safety program and no third party audit under food law.
- Other regulators
Work health and safety on a mine site has its own WA laws and regulator, including the Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulations 2022 (WA). This page covers food law only.
- Also worth knowing
Meals sent out to a work area can be transport, one of the prescribed activities. A record of it shows the date and the food's temperature or its time in transit.
The Code sets no freezer temperature. With deliveries days apart, the freezer check asks whether stock is still hard frozen.
This is general information about the law, not advice about your business. Confirm your category and what applies to you with your local government.
Guardian for mining and remote sites
For a camp kitchen, the review happens online, which suits a site hours from the nearest town. It can take in whether each swing's records carry on from the last, and whether the transport and cooling logs are kept on the days they are needed.
On the Guardian plan a Hospitality Compliance Support Officer (HCSO) reviews your records online, wherever you are, and on site in Western Australia where visits are available. The officer is not an authorised officer: they cannot certify your venue or speak for your local government.
Related kinds of venue
Asked about mining and remote sites
What if the connection drops while a reading is saved?
The reading stays on screen and you are told it was not sent, so it can be saved again once the connection is back. Nothing is lost without you knowing.
Do crews on rotation each need a certificate?
Food handlers need no certificate, only training or skills and knowledge that match their work. The food safety supervisor does need a certificate issued within the last five years, and one needs to be reasonably available on each swing.
Is there a set number of temperature checks per shift?
No. The law names no daily or weekly checks. The starter set here is a suggestion that gives a clear record, and you can change it to fit a 12 hour shift pattern.
Do frozen deliveries need a temperature on arrival?
The receiving record shows the date, the food, and its temperature or the time it took to deliver. For frozen food the Code names no temperature: the question is whether it arrived frozen and stayed frozen.