Food handler’s training for water truck operators
Published:Monday | January 9, 2023 | 12:05 AM
WESTERN BUREAU:
Steve Morris, chief public health inspector at the Westmoreland Health Services, says truckers who distribute potable water across the parish are to attend a special food handler’s training session as part of their licensing requirements later this month.
Last June, public health inspectors in Westmoreland stepped up enforcement of the Public Health (Food Handling) Regulations, which place water into the general definition of food.
However, six months later, and despite a consultation meeting with stakeholders demanding that approximately 20 truckers be licensed, they are still operating without all necessary documentation.
Morris told The Gleaner that 14 private truckers have made adjustments towards meeting the registration and licensing requirements and have submitted applications for processing.
“We actually have a few applications, but the challenge we have right now is that, even though they have most of the requirements, they have not gotten their food handler’s permits as yet,” he said.
“I have instructed my officers to set up a special session for them during this month so we can have all of them get their food-handler’s permits that we can [issue] their licences,” added the chief public health inspector.
He also pointed out that truckers employed by the National Water Commission are also required to register and obtain a food-handler’s permits.
Trucking operations in the parish have come under increased scrutiny after the public health department detected that water of substandard quality was distributed to consumers after industrial action by some 2,000 National Water Commission workers crippled residential, commercial and government activities across the country islandwide last May.