Person in Charge During All Hours of Operation:

Each permit holder will be required to have a "person in charge" (PIC) present during all hours of operation. The person in charge must be able to demonstrate knowledge of foodborne disease prevention, application of Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points and the requirements in the food rule. The person in charge may meet the demonstrate of knowledge requirements in one of three ways by:

- Being a certified food protection manager who has successfully passed a test as part of an accredited program recognized by the Oregon Department of Human Services

- Correctly answering questions posed by the inspector

- Compliance with the rule as exhibited by no critical violations

- Compliance with any one of the three criteria will meet the requirement of the rule!

What May I Use to Answer the Inspector's Questions?

It is understood that the person in charge may not be involved in the performance of a given task on a daily basis, but the PIC is expected to be able to instruct any food employee in the proper procedures when necessary. Store operations manual, standard operating procedures, recipes that include critical control points, internal training programs, and internal quality control checks are a few of the many resources that the PIC may use in training food employees on safe food preparation practices. The PIC will be allowed to use these same materials to correctly answer the inspector's question. The effectiveness of the PIC to protect the health of the consumer can be demonstrated by their ability to apply the required knowledge to the establishment's operations by designing and implementing procedures and programs that ensure continued compliance with the rules.

Who can be a "person in charge"?

The new rule specifies that restaurants must have either a designated "Person in Charge" on-site who can provide a "Demonstration of Knowledge." The following explains what this means: 1. You must designate a "person in charge" at all hours of operation. 2. Demonstration of knowledge of the food code can be obtained from procedure books, other employees, or a copy of the food code. (This will only apply if you have a critical violation and you do not have a ServSafe certified employee on duty) 3. You must ask employees after you offer them a job, if they are exposed to any health risks that may present a danger to your customers. *Note sanitarians are telling restaurateurs to ask applicants which is a violation of the ADA you can only ask after a conditional offer of employment has been made.

As edited by the Oregon Restaurant Education Foundation from the Oregon Food Code.