Food and drink technical operator Apprenticeship Standard

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Knowledge

K1: The food and drink sector. Food industry regulators: British Retail Consortium, Food Standards Agency. Types of organisations: branded and non-branded, high and low care sites. Types of food and drink products. End-to-end supply chain. Customers and consumers. Seasonal impact on product demand. Current food and drink trends.
K2: Food and drink technical operator’s role. Limits of autonomy. Different teams and functions involved in production. Business operation considerations: efficiency, customer satisfaction, competitiveness, minimising risks to production.
K3: Food and drink manufacturing methods and processes. How technology supports production. Characteristics and properties of food and drink products: ambient, frozen, fresh, chilled, confectionery, liquid. Handling requirements. Effects of external influences. Packaging types and functionality.
K4: Standard operating procedures. What they are and why they are important. What they need to cover and why: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), isolation and lock off, guarding, strip and assembly of equipment, step by step process. Use of visuals and symbols.
K5: Food and drink industry quality management standards for example, British Retail Consortium. What they are and why they are important.
K6: Food and drink tools and equipment: pumps, valves, lines, gauges, temperature controls, mixers, conveyors, depositors, sealers, touch screen technology, human machine interface, Programmable Logical Control (PLC) systems and handheld devices. Operating standards and equipment set points.
K7: Customer specifications: purpose and consequences of non-compliance.
K8: Line performance management. Key Performance Indicators. How line performance impacts profitability of the business.
K9: Role of line trials in new product introduction.
K10: Legislation and standards: Food Safety Act, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Threat Analysis of Critical Control Points (TACCP), Vulnerability Assessment of Critical Control Points (VACCP).
K11: Food safety: microbiology, physical, chemical contamination hazards and control. Food poisoning. Personal hygiene. Design of food premises and equipment. Cleaning and disinfection principles and procedures, cleaning in place (CIP). Pest control. Control measures. Supervisory management.
K12: Food integrity: temperature control, date code responsibilities, foreign object contamination. Documentation records.
K13: Material and ingredient specification requirements: segregation, storage, maintaining product origin, integrity and traceability. Allergen identification and control methods.
K14: Health and Safety at Work Act – responsibilities. Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH). Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). Risk assessments. Safe systems of work. Manual handling. Types of hazards. Near miss reporting. Due diligence. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Situational awareness. Isolation and emergency stop procedures. Emergency evacuation procedures. Slips, trips and falls. Safety equipment: guards, signage, fire extinguishers.
K15: Environment and sustainability. Environmental Protection Act - responsibilities. Types of pollution and control measures: noise, smells, spills, and waste. Efficient use of resources. Environmental permits. Waste management. Recycling.
K16: Types of incidents - fire, accidents, near-misses. Mitigation methods. Incident management.
K17: Principles of mechanical engineering technologies and safe working practices: lubrication, hydraulics, fluid power, mechanical, bench fitting, pumps and valves, pneumatics, drives, fitting and hand tools, units and measurements, fault-location, stored energy and safe isolation.
K18: Different types of maintenance activities: preventative, reactive. What they are and why they are important.
K19: Food safety engineering: food grade oils, safe use of tools and equipment.
K20: Problem solving techniques: root cause analysis, 6 thinking hats, DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control), PDCA (Plan Do Check Act). Fault finding techniques: root cause analysis, 5 Whys, fishbone, half-split.
K21: Continuous improvement techniques: lean, 6-sigma, KAIZEN, 5S (Sort, set, shine, standardise and sustain), SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Dies).
K22: Audit requirements - internal and external. Five stages of audit. Responsibilities of auditor and auditee.
K23: Information technology: Management Information Systems (MIS), spreadsheets, presentation, word processing, email, virtual communication and learning platforms. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
K24: Planning, prioritising and time management techniques. Work management systems.
K25: Communication techniques: verbal, non-verbal.
K26: Communication techniques: written. Writing using plain English principles.
K27: Workplace training and buddying techniques.
K28: Team working techniques.

Skills

S1: Interpret, follow and implement food and drink production SOPs.
S2: Interpret, follow and implement quality assurance procedures.
S3: Monitor production performance, stock usage and rotation.
S4: Operate or use food and drink production tools and equipment.
S5: Identify hazards (Critical Control Points) and control measures to mitigate risks.
S6: Comply with food safety regulations and procedures.
S7: Comply with health and safety regulations and procedures.
S8: Comply with environment and sustainability regulations and procedures. Segregate, recycle and dispose of waste.
S9: Monitor and inspect production machinery.
S10: Apply basic maintenance practices. For example, check levels, parts wear, pressure, and sensors, and grease and lubricate.
S11: Select and use maintenance hand tools.
S12: Follow food safe engineering standards and practices. For example, use of food safe chemicals, check out and in of components.
S13: Follow site isolation and lock off procedures (lockout, tagout).
S14: Diagnose and resolve issues. Escalate issues.
S15: Apply fault-finding and problem-solving techniques.
S16: Apply continuous improvement techniques. Devise suggestions for improvement.
S17: Collect and interpret information. Use data to apply changes
S18: Record information - paper based or electronic.
S19: Use information technology. Comply with GDPR.
S20: Plan and organise self, others and resources.
S21: Communicate with colleagues and stakeholders visually and verbally.
S22: Communicate in writing.
S23: Identify training needs. Train and buddy team members in the workplace.

Behaviours

B1: Prioritise and promote health and safety, and food safety.
B2: Prioritise and promote the environment and sustainability.
B3: Apply a professional approach.
B4: Take responsibility for work.
B5: Team-focus to meet work goals.
B6: Respond and adapt to work demands.
B7: Committed to Continued Professional Development.

Duty 1

DUTY: Prepare and run food and drink manufacturing line including hygienic practices, start-up, close-down, changeover, and handovers of manufacturing process.

Duty 2

DUTY: Monitor and record results of Critical Control Points in food and drink manufacturing.

Duty 3

DUTY: Control stock for example, intake of goods, storage of goods, entering information into management systems.

Duty 4

DUTY: Resolve ‘front-line’ faults, relating to machines, raw materials through to finished product, people or packaging directly or via escalation. Identify the root cause.

Duty 5

DUTY: Assist maintenance engineers by conducting first line mechanical engineering maintenance – preventative and reactive. For example, planned maintenance, repairs and overhauls.

Duty 6

DUTY: Perform asset care tasks for example, lubricate.

Duty 7

DUTY: Monitor performance for example, efficiency, wastage and compliance with environmental standards.

Duty 8

DUTY: Undertake quality assurance to ensure compliance with company/customer requirements, for example take product samples.

Duty 9

DUTY: Complete documentation for example, traceability, accident reports (near misses).

Duty 10

DUTY: Develop and support others.

Duty 11

DUTY: Conduct internal audits, in accordance with food and drink industry standards.

Duty 12

DUTY: Support external audits for example, act as a guide for area of responsibility and/or provide information.

Duty 13

DUTY: Develop, contribute to or update risk assessments and standard operating procedures for area of responsibility.

Duty 14

DUTY: Support projects, such as the introduction of a new process, equipment or product, by trialling processes, new standard operating procedures, and training others and sampling new products.

Duty 15

DUTY: Undertake continuous improvement activities within area of responsibility for example, to improve quality, equipment efficiency, increase productivity, reduce run-time, reduce waste, or improve ergonomics of area.

Food and drink technical operator

Interested in a simple Skills Scan and Learning Progress Tracker tool for the Food and drink technical operator standard?

Knowledge

Skills

Behaviours

Duty 1

Duty 2

Duty 3

Duty 4

Duty 5

Duty 6

Duty 7

Duty 8

Duty 9

Duty 10

Duty 11

Duty 12

Duty 13

Duty 14

Duty 15

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Interested in a simple Skills Scan and Learning Progress Tracker tool for the Food and drink technical operator standard?