Appoint a Food Hygiene Officer

A Food Hygiene Officer (FHO) is supervisory personnel trained to WSQ Food Safety Course (FSC) Level 3 — a step above the FSC Level 1 every handler needs — who takes responsibility for food safety supervision on site. SFA requires one wherever a kitchen is 16 square metres or more, or a restaurant occupies two or more adjacent units, regardless of multi-unit or standalone format.

This is a licensing condition, not a nice-to-have: SFA's pre-licensing checklist and the SAFE Framework category definition both confirm the same 16m² threshold, and it also determines whether your premises sits in SAFE Framework Category 1 (larger kitchens, more scrutiny) or Category 2. Trading above the threshold without a named FHO is a licensing compliance gap an inspection will pick up.

Watch out for

• Measuring only the kitchen you think of as "the kitchen" and missing prep or wash-up areas that push you over 16m² — the threshold is the working kitchen area as a whole, not just the cooking line.
• Assuming a small standalone unit is automatically exempt — the trigger is kitchen area or adjacent-unit footprint, not overall venue size or seating capacity, so a compact bar with a large back kitchen can still cross it.
• Appointing an FHO on paper without giving them FSC Level 3 first — the appointment only satisfies the requirement once the qualification is actually held.

Sources

• SFA — Requirements for food handlers and hygiene officers checked 2026-09-08
• SFA — Food Shop pre-licensing checklist (PDF) checked 2026-09-08
• SFA — Understanding the SAFE Framework checked 2026-09-08

See also

• Food Safety Course Level 1 for every food handler