Structure, Design And Maintenance

In order to produce safe food from your premises, certain structural and design considerations must be made to assist in appropriate process flows through the premises and to ensure appropriate delivery, storage, processing, display, and serving of food.
In general, the food premises should be designed and constructed to: provide adequate space for the activities to be conducted; permit the premises to be adequately cleaned and where necessary sanitised; and to the extent that is practicable, exclude dirt, dust, fumes and smoke, not permit the entry of pests, and not provide harbourage of pests.
The premises must have an adequate supply of water and use potable water for all activities.The premises must have an effective sewage and waste water disposal system.
The premises must have adequate facilities for the storage of garbage and recyclable matter that can adequately contain the volume and type of garbage and recyclable matter generated on the premises.

This waste must be enclosed if necessary, to keep pests and animals away and be designed and constructed so that it is easily cleaned.
Natural or mechanical ventilation must be provided to effectively remove fumes, smoke, steam and vapours from the food premises.
Lighting must be sufficient to ensure all areas are adequately lit. This is to facilitate cleaning, to enable detection of any pests, and to ensure all food can be clearly seen so as to prevent visibly contaminated food from being sold or served.
For detailed requirements on the structure and design requirements of a food premises, contact the Health Department of your Local Council.
In addition to the requirements for premises and equipment to be constructed and installed correctly, the premises and equipment must be maintained in a good state of repair and working order.
Flaking paint, damaged crockery, or loose fixtures may contaminate food.
Unsealed surfaces, for example where edging strips have come loose or where refrigerator door seals have become worn, and are not able to be easily cleaned.
Broken floor and wall tiles present a risk of contamination of food and do not allow for such surfaces to be effectively cleaned and in the case of a floor surface may lead to pooling of water.
Finally, it is important that chipped, broken or cracked eating or drinking utensils not be used as they may contaminate food or the rough surface means they are not able to be effectively cleaned.

When packing away the crockery and utensils, you notice that a glass is chipped and a plate is cracked. By clicking and dragging the images indicate whether they can be stored or whether the items should be discarded.