Apprenticeship Standard: Food and Drink Maintenance Engineer L3

Knowledge

• Food and drink sector awareness. The industry’s regulator: The Food Standards Agency. Types of organisations: branded and non-branded, and high and low care sites. Types of food and drink products: ambient, frozen, fresh, chilled, confectionery, and liquid. End-to-end supply chain. Customers and consumers. Customer specifications: purpose and consequences of non-compliance. Implications of product shelf life.
• Food and drink maintenance engineer’s role. Limits of autonomy. Different teams and functions involved in production. Business operation considerations: efficiency, customer satisfaction, competitiveness, minimising risks to production, and ethical practices.
• Principles of quality management systems and processes in the food and drink industry and impact on customer requirements. Customer and food trade association standards for example, British Retail Consortium, Retailer standards. Internal and external audits and impact on maintenance.
• Food science and technology – fundamentals of how engineering is used in food and drink production: aseptic filling and processing, chilling, freezing, heat processing, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), preservation, and packaging.
• Food safety regulations awareness and their impact on food and drink engineering: Food Safety Act, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Threat Analysis of Critical Control Points (TACCP), and Vulnerability Assessment of Critical Control Points (VACCP).
• Food safety: control of contamination hazards (microbiological, physical, and chemical). The risk of contamination and impact on product integrity and health of consumers. Allergens. The importance and impact of temperature and process control measures. Regulatory information and date code responsibilities. Hygienic engineering design of food premises and equipment, and hygiene requirements of operators. Cleaning and disinfection principles, procedures, and methods: Cleaning in place (CIP), cleaning out of place, and chemical impact. Pest control.
• Properties of food and drink, packaging materials and sealing techniques and impact on engineering tasks.
• Health and safety regulations awareness and their application to food and drink engineering: Health and Safety at Work Act, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (CoSHH), Working in confined spaces, Working at Height, Lone working, Provision of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER), Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER), Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres (DSEAR), Pressure Equipment Directive (PED), Electricity at work regulations, Noise regulation, L8 Legionella, Display Screen Equipment, The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR), and Construction Design Management regulations. Slips trips and falls. Types of incidents: fire, accidents, and near-misses. Mitigation methods. Incident management. Near miss reporting.
• Health and safety practice: risk assessments and method statements, manual handling, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and signage and barriers.
• Safe isolation of process fluids, gases, electricity, and stored energy: Lockout, tagout (LOTO).

Skills

• Read and interpret task related information and data. For example, work instructions, SOPs, quality control documentation, Service Level Agreements, specifications, engineering representations, drawings, and graphical information, work instructions, and operation manuals.
• Plan work. Identify and organise resources to complete tasks.
• Identify hazards and control measures to mitigate risks.
• Comply with food safety regulations and procedures.
• Comply with health and safety regulations and procedures.
• Comply with environment and sustainability regulations and procedures: safe disposal of waste, re-cycling or re-use of materials and efficient use of resources.
• Select, check the condition, and safely use maintenance tools and equipment. Store tools and equipment. Complete or arrange maintenance of tools and equipment including calibration where required.
• Follow standard operating procedures and quality procedures.
• Follow site isolation and lock off procedures (lockout, tagout) and re-instatement of equipment with system checks and handover.
• Apply mechanical and fluid power system maintenance practices and techniques. For example, check levels, parts wear, pressure, and sensors, grease and lubricate parts, replace, fit components, and calibrate equipment.

Behaviours

• Prioritise and promote health and safety, food safety, and the environment and sustainability.
• Always apply a professional approach, taking ownership for own work and accountability for quality of work.
• Team-focus to meet work goals: respectful to others, builds relationship with others, and positive inclusion.
• Be committed to Continued Professional Development (CPD) to maintain to enhance own competence, whilst responding and adapting to work demands.