Could I be sacked over this?

[Sweetiexx]

could i be sacked for this?
I work as a cook manager in a school, a child who has an allergy was given a wrong dessert by my kitchen assistant. The child is ok had no reaction.

the school also had another incident regarding this child from the classroom. But the head teacher has said they are going to do an investigation with the governors.

we have had no new information from the school regarding allergies or pictures of the children.
all we had was a teacher come up and pointed this child out. My staff member couldn’t remember the child.
no as the manager could I be sacked because of this?

many thanks

I can't help with any legal advice, but have you written down a factual account of what happened, to the best of your memory? If not, do it now.
Are you in a union?

No, you need to prepare by writing down all of these knowledge you were given and what was in writing and what was not. You need a better system for communication and allergy management in your setting between the teachers, parents and kitchen staff. It's up to school to support and facilitate this process.

Hard to say from your post. It would depend on how long you’ve been there, your defined responsibilities, training received etc.

Been there for 2 years. We have had no written information at all from the school regarding the new children’s allergies, we have had no pictures regarding the children either.
I had a phone call from the parent about the allergy that was it.
we had a teacher come up and show us the child and that was it.
I thought my member of staff knew but she didn’t remember the child.
how can it be my fault if I didn’t give her the item.?

I think you can't be sacked but the school need to (rightly) review their procedures to ensure it doesn't happen again. It's their management's job to do this and yours to follow it, so, first of all, is there a system in place already that wsnt followed? If yes, who failed to follow it?
In my school it's not enough for a parent to just say x child is allergic to y, we need a doctor's note. We then have photos of the children with xyz allergies, one on staffroom noticeboard with details of epipen permissions, and one in the canteen for cooking staff. As a failsafe, we insist all children with any allergies/halal go first in the lunch line and teach the children to verbally confirm each day, as we get a lot of supply canteen staff.
I would say things relatively normal practise.
So, it sounds like your setting as a whole need to review what's happening and learn from it. I doubt it's a stackable offence, no.

As the kitchen manager, isn’t it your job to ensure there is a photo and allergy book for each kid with an allergy? I thought that was your job? I could be wrong.

Yes you need a full review together, it can't all be on your shoulders. Risk assessments need to be created, allergen forms, which specifically state the allergen, who they are, photo, risk scale, what would happen if they ingested. Is it call to parents, epipen, 999. Named first aiders etc. There are so many steps that need to be taken together.

As the manager would it be your responsibly to set up and system that would help you fulfil your duty to allergy kids?

if there was no system in place when you took the management role would have been prudent to set one up and ask the head teacher to provide the images you clearly think were necessary?

My dsil is a kitchen manager and your system sounds sloppy to me.
Dsil meets up with parent and dc with the allergies before they join the school.
She tells dc to introduce herself again on the first day.
She has a photo and relevant allergy at till for every dc who needs it.

As a manager this is your job.

I guess it depends how you are employed, are you school staff or do they contract out to you? Or are you employed through the local authority?

There should be a book with all the recipes in it, all the possible allergens and potential contamination points and a page for each child with allergies and a photo of the child. The children depending on their age should identify themselves and their allergy to staff but it is the kitchens responsibility to make sure the children are kept safe.

How did a parent manage to get hold of your number to phone you up? Also, if this child supposedly had an allergy, ate the wrong dessert but didn't have a reaction, then they don't have an allergy!

It’s your fault because you haven’t put a safe system in place.

The school hasn’t given any information to us.
we normally have a booklet with the children. But we have had nothing this term, even tho i have asked for it, school said was not ready.

the system we have in place in the school is that booklet. They wouldn’t allow any pictures on the wall of children nothing. Wouldn’t even allow coloured plates or children who have allergies to come first.

how can it be my fault when I wasnt the one that gave her the item.

It is your fault, you should have a system in place so this doesn't happen. Obviously more training is needed also, it happened on your watch. I don't mean to sound mean but my child has a life threatening allergy and if it happened to them I would make sure someone lost their job over this.

If you're the manager then it's your responsibility.

What is the policy for allergies? Were all the correct processes followed?
Has the staff member involved had the correct training?

You need to review what went wrong, and how it can be avoided in future.

No but someone needs to be held responsibile. A child could’ve died.

OP, you keep asking how it can be your fault if you didn't actually give the food to the child, but that's the whole point of management. The manager takes responsibility for ensuring that the appropriate checks and procedures are in place to keep everyone safe. It seems that those measures were not adequately in place and so, as the manager, you bear at least some responsibility.

The degree to which you might be held directly responsible for what happened will depend on a number of other factors. For example, is it well documented that you had repeatedly asked for the booklet with the allergy information, and had you flagged your concerns with senior management about the fact that this information had not yet been received? Had you implemented other workaround measures in the absence of the booklet to minimise the risks and informed your team of what those measures were? Had you ensured that all staff had had proper training about allergy awareness etc? Had you updated any relevant risk registers to reflect the heightened risk arising from insufficient information from the school regarding new pupils?

If you can clearly demonstrate that you had done everything that was reasonably possible to ensure that children were kept safe, then I doubt that you will be sacked. If you are not able to demonstrate that you took the risks seriously enough, then there may well be a risk to your position - children die because of exposure to allergens and it was your job to ensure that nothing went wrong.

I think if you had had a phonecall about the child, and a teacher had pointed the child out, then you had enough information to put something in place for that child even if you didn't have the booklet you normally have.

You say you thought your staff member knew which child it was, but how did you know that? What system or checks were put in place to ensure that all staff members knew which children have allergies?

Ultimately if you felt you hadn't had sufficient information to ensure you could safely serve food, you could have refused to serve any food until it was safe. Did you have any meetings or emails about the situation and whether it was safe?

No harm done, but you need a solution. Maybe they could have plates and bowls which are a different colour perhaps?

As a parent of a child with a serious allergy this would be terrifying.

Our school has very strict procedures in place and I would have thought all schools do.

Tbh as a parent I would have expected that this is on you as the manager of the kitchen, and yes if my child was fed something that had the potential to kill her I would expect a detailed investigation and quite possibly for the person responsible to lose their job.

Your kitchen needs much much stricter processes and you need to be the one making sure that happens.

Please consider refusing to feed children with allergies until you have the information needed and better processes in place.

Ultimately if you felt you hadn't had sufficient information to ensure you could safely serve food, you could have refused to serve any food until it was safe.

I agree.

OP it's your responsibility. There are lots of things you could have done to mitigate or eliminate the risk.

To add, your best chance of not getting sacked is to take full responsibility for what happened in order to demonstrate that you understand the nature of the management role. If you go down the route of saying "but I didn't give the item to the child", you will only make it clear that you don't understand your responsibilities as a manager, which will make your role untenable.

Explain the normal procedures that you have in place. Explain why these were not in place on this particular occasion. Explain what you did to try and address the situation in the absence of the usual booklet. Demonstrate that you have reflected on the incident and learnt from it, by acknowledging what you should have done and by outlining how you would do things differently in the future. Show that you recognise the severity of getting things wrong in this area, including the potential consequences, and emphasise that you have a clear plan to ensure that it can never happen again.

I would be inclined to give someone with the above attitude a second chance. But if you came in with a "wasn't my fault" approach, I would almost certainly be inclined to sack you unless you had substantial evidence to show that you had actually done everything within your power to reduce the risk.

The attitude the whole school has around allergies is terrifyingly blazé.

You need to document that you requested the allergy book but were told it wasn't ready.

However, it's not enough to shrug your shoulders and say "well they pointed out the child but how were we meant to remember". It's on you to realise how serious allergies are and take proactive steps to ensure you CAN and DO remember.

This all sounds unbelievably haphazard. I know nothing about school kitchens, but I find it hard to conceive that allergies are addressed by parents phoning the cook and teachers vaguely pointing kids out. I also find it hard to believe that a manager would assume a member of staff was aware of allergies based on almost non existent information and guidance. The whole school sounds culpable, not just the kitchen!