Oman Air Catering Services - A Registered CIEH Food Safety Training Centre
Date: 19 Mar 2011
Another accolade has recently been added to Oman Air’s Catering Unit at Muscat Intl Airport -this being accreditation as a CIEH registered training centre for food safety - levels 01 and 02.
This will further enhance the staff’s awareness of the importance of food safety within the production kitchens of Oman Air.
To Oman Air’s Catering Unit, Customer satisfaction is paramount and this step will undoubtedly satisfy our consumers expectation, and cement the reputation and business moving forward. The Catering Unit has two certified trainers. Both experts in the field of Food Safety Management. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) is based in the UK and is an internationally recognized charity and professional voice for environmental health. CIEH is also UK’s leading awarding body for vocational qualifications in accredited food safety, health, and environment protection qualification.
In pursuit of elevating not only the service quality, but also improving the skills and knowledge base of its manpower, the Catering Unit started implementing the CIEH food safety course early in 2010. Following its certification, Oman Air has now successfully run the first course with 27 participants.
Apart from the benefit of being an internationally recognized food safety curriculum, the Catering Unit also had incurred economic advantage having the course done internally, in terms of cost savings. There are no operational losses in terms of manpower-hours since the training schedule is adjusted according to the operational requirements. The training contents are also custom-fit to address the demands of the particular organization, which in the case of Oman Air – has exacting criteria.
As the forefront to Oman Air’s food safety program, the Catering Unit is planning to have all its food handlers undergo the certification course within the CIEH Food safety qualifications and eventually expand its services by offering the course to the public.
Speaking on the achievements of Ms Tawhida Al Kindy – Manager of Quality Assurance and the driving force behind this initiative - The G.M of Catering Mr. Aaron Claxton praised her efforts in achieving these incredible results for the team in such a short period. 2011 is a year where we have big plans to enhance our profile and along with this our portfolio of business clientele. Staff morale and development is a key strategy in this program and such ongoing commitment by the management team to nurture the new talents is extremely pleasing and essential to our growth.
It is worth mentioning that The Catering Business Unit of Oman Air at Muscat International Airport has achieved a milestone by being the first airline caterer within the Middle East and Gulf Region, to be awarded the prestigious certification in Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), a Food Safety Management System ISO 22000.