Emergency Handbook for Food Managers

This Emergency Handbook was developed as a quick reference guide to provide
step-by-step emergency information to food managers and other supervisory personnel at food service establishments. The handbook:

Addresses both naturally occurring and man-made emergencies.
Provides prompts for whom to call, first steps to take and subsequent recovery actions to follow after an emergency happens.
Contains tips on managing longer-term emergencies caused by disruption of utilities and municipal services.
Offers ongoing food security and emergency preparedness advice.
Large-scale, widespread and catastrophic emergencies will require expert assessment and advice tailored in real time to the specific situation. In such instances, emergency alert systems, news outlets and emergency responders will supplement this handbook as crucial sources of information.

Day in and day out, it is the responsibility of food managers to maintain food safety in their establishments. Food service operations should immediately be discontinued whenever food safety is compromised by an emergency incident. The operation should remain closed until the local health authority grants approval to reopen. Most food managers will, at some point, encounter the challenges presented by natural disasters and the subsequent emergencies they can cause - power outages, wind damage, flooding and burst pipes, among them. Accidental chemical releases from nearby industries and transportation routes should also be anticipated. In today's atmosphere of heightened homeland security, the potential threats of biological, radiological and chemical terrorism need also be given serious consideration.

This handbook offers practical guidance to food managers in all of these areas.