BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to food safety; amending RCW 69.06.010; adding new sections to chapter 69.06 RCW; creating a new section; and repealing RCW 69.06.050.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 69.06.010 and 1987 c 223 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

It shall be unlawful for any person to be employed in the handling of unwrapped or unpackaged food unless he or she shall furnish and place on file with the person in charge of such establishment, a food and beverage service worker's permit, as prescribed by the state board of health. Such permit shall be kept on file by the employer or kept by the employee on his or her person and open for inspection at all reasonable hours by authorized public health officials. Such permit shall be returned to the employee upon termination of employment. Initial permits shall be valid for two years from the date of issuance. Subsequent renewal permits shall be valid for ((~~five~~)) three years from the date of issuance for persons whose employment is continuous. A person whose employment lapses for one year or more must be retrained and reexamined under section 2 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) No less than one manager at each retail food service establishment must be certified by the local health officer as a food safety manager. The certification may be granted to those individuals who have successfully completed a training and examination program that imparts and tests knowledge of the nature, prevention, and control of foodborne disease transmission and of methods for identifying and monitoring critical control points for safeguarding the production, processing, preparation, and serving of food.

(2) The state board of health shall establish standards in rule for food service managers who must be certified under this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. In consultation with retail food establishment groups, the state board of health shall establish, in rule, standards for a food service quality assurance program that may be implemented on a voluntary basis by a retail food service establishment regulated under this chapter. The standards may contain an ongoing system of quality monitoring and self-assessment based on hazard analysis or critical control point principles, and improved employee training to increase food safety skills. If retail food service establishments choose to implement these standards, the local health officer shall inspect the establishment using the standards, as part of its regular inspections and provide a separate certificate stating compliance with these voluntary standards.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The department shall implement a public education program regarding safe handling and preparation of food. The goal is to continuously provide the public with the most accurate information available on food handling and safety methods to avoid deadly foodborne illnesses such as E. coli 0157:H7. The program shall involve all relevant entities in the public and private sectors, including print and electronic media, in an effort to target information to food processors, food handlers, and food preparers who may or may not be engaging in these activities in establishments regulated under this chapter.

To implement this program, the department shall:

(1) Collect and maintain current information on scientifically and educationally sound consumer education regarding safe food handling;

(2) In consultation with local public health jurisdictions and the public and private sector partnership established in subsection (3) of this section, disseminate food safety information using any necessary and effective means which may include brochures, consumer hotlines, posters, public service announcements in print and electronic media, and educational curricula for use in schools, retail establishments, and community groups; and

(3) Establish a public and private sector partnership including retailers, media, public health officials, educators, child care providers, food processors, and other entities to disseminate this information to any individual or group who may be handling or preparing food.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Every retail food service establishment shall post, in all food preparation areas, a poster not less than eleven inches by eighteen inches, containing information about the safe handling of foods typically prepared or handled in that area. The state board of health shall determine the specific content of these posters in rule. If the local health officer determines that failure to display posters required under this section constitutes an immediate threat to public health, such failure may result in immediate suspension of a license to operate as a retail food establishment.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) The local health officer shall furnish to an applicant for a permit or renewal of a permit a copy of the latest edition of the food and beverage service worker's manual as prepared by the state department of health.

(2) In order to qualify for issuance of a permit or renewal of a permit, the applicant shall demonstrate his or her knowledge of acceptable practices in the sanitary preparation, service, and storage of food and beverages, and the proper sanitation of equipment and facilities by satisfactorily completing training and an examination conducted by the local health officer or his or her authorized representative on such subjects based on the practices and procedures set forth in the food and beverage service workers manual.

(3) The board of health shall establish standards in rule for the availability of training and informational material regarding food handling for all persons required to obtain food and beverage service workers permits under this chapter. The standards shall be based on recommendations contained in the public health services improvement plan required by RCW 43.70.520, which shall give consideration to the needs of all segments of the population including those not fluent in English, the functionally illiterate, and individuals with disabilities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Owners of food service establishments or, in the case of public entities, supervisors of food service establishments, shall maintain, in a location accessible to employees, an adequate supply of single-service food service gloves. Persons handling food in the food service establishment shall use single service food service gloves as required by the board of health. The board of health shall adopt a rule that sets forth practical parameters for the use of single-service food service gloves.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. (1) If the state board of health fails to adopt any rule necessary to implement sections 2 through 7 of this act by October 1994 rule making for this chapter shall be assumed by the secretary of the department of health.

(2) The board of health may delegate any portion of the rule-making authority granted it under this chapter to the secretary of health.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The legislative budget committee shall, within its available resources, report by July 1997 on the extent to which the terms and provisions of chapter . . ., Laws of 1994 (this act) have been implemented, on the cost of compliance to the public and private sectors, and on the effects of these provisions in reducing the number and associated costs of foodborne illness in Washington.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. RCW 69.06.050 and 1957 c 197 s 5 are each repealed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Sections 2 through 8 of this act are each added to chapter 69.06 RCW.