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DIC. GEN. 2017
VIII
corporate books.
Starting from 2017, tax settlements
and the first prepayments for IRPEF,
IRES, IRAP and IVS contribution
have been postponed from 16th to
30th June. If there is an instalment
option, instalments will be paid
monthly by the end of November.
The second tax prepayments are
due on 30th November in a single
payment. Property owners mustn’t
forget IMU and TASI taxes: first
payment on 16th June, balance due
on 16th December.
WORKERS’ SAFETY
Too many
dates to keep in mind? Maybe,
but they are not the only ones.
Actually, these fiscal deadlines have
the advantage of being set and the
same for everyone. But a restaurant
must also comply with health and
safety regulations. There are no
fixed deadlines by law, but there
are some obligations during the
year. The beginning of the new year
is the perfect time to think about
such obligations and decide the best
deadlines for each business.
Let’s start with safety on the
workplace. “Every day we must
check the electrical system, the
machinery and all electrical
equipment - explains Alessandro
Rebecca, safety expert at Sicura
Service -, but every year there
are some recurring things to
do: evaluating the condition of
individual protection gears, handing
it back if necessary, and planning
an inspection with the doctor in
charge of health safety. Every year
a new Workers’ Representative for
the Security must be appointed
and companies with more than 15
employees must organize a meeting
on safety and health topics.
The list of employees has to be
revised and updated and if there are
relevant changes in the structure of
the workplace or in the employee
layout the Risk Assessment Form
has to be updated. Companies
with more than 10 employees
have to test the emergency plan
and the evacuation plan. Every six
months it is important to check
the correct functioning of fire
extinguishers, emergency lights,
emergency door bars on emergency
exits and the first aid kit. Every
five years it is important to check
the electrical earthing system and
revise its documents in case it needs
updating”.
... AND FOOD SAFETY
So far,
these obligations are common to
all types of companies, but food
businesses must also comply with
food safety regulations. The law is
not very different from that of safety
on the workplace. “From a strictly
legal point of view - explains Marco
Valerio Sarti, food technologue -,
there are no food health and safety
rules to comply with before the
31st December for food businesses.
Yet, I believe that a food business
attentive to quality must take some
steps and this is a good time to plan
them for the coming year. First of
all, it is good to revise the plans in
the self-checking systems guide. I
mean equipment maintenance, pest
control, sanitising and analysis”.
It is good practice to rely on third
party companies that specialize in
some of these activities, but it is
not compulsory to. For example,
equipment maintenance and pest
control can be carried out by
internal employees if they have the
necessary know-how. “An effective
planning - underlines Sarti - is very
helpful to prevent problems and
allows cost cuts. For instance, a
well-thought plan for pest control
can prevent problems during the
year and it limits expenses to the
minimum necessary”.
A good starting point for this
approach could be the registration
and revision of non-conformities.
“Registering non-conformities means
recognizing the problems of your
own business and applying correctly
the self-checking procedures.
Apart from the registration of non-
conformities it is appropriate to
have technical information such as
usage manuals for machines and
systems, technical specifications
for disinfectants and detergents,
regulation references for food
analyses, inspection reports,
technical specifications for all
products used in pest control.
Last, it is necessary to draw
a training schedule for food
personnel, considering that they
have to be trained at the start of
their job but also at a later stage,
with scheduled training sessions.
On this specific requirement, I
suggest all restaurateurs get updated
information because regulations
are on a regional basis and some
important Regions have recently
changed them”.
Too much to handle? Maybe, but
with a bit of organization and
planning it will all become easier.
MAGAZINE