Food Safety & PIC Certificate Training
PIC certificate and food safety training in Dubai and Abu Dhabi: Person in Charge Level 2 and 3, HACCP, and ISO 22000 courses approved by KHDA and ACTVET.
Food safety training in Dubai and Abu Dhabi — PIC certificate courses, food hygiene, HACCP and ISO 22000 — approved by KHDA in Dubai and ACTVET in Abu Dhabi.
Food safety fails at the point of practice, not at the point of policy. A HACCP plan is only as good as the supervisor who applies it at four in the morning when the delivery is late and the chiller is full — which is why food safety training is a licensing requirement, not a nice-to-have. Dubai Municipality requires every food establishment to have a certified Person in Charge on duty per shift under the Dubai Food Code; Abu Dhabi applies equivalent requirements through ADAFSA. An establishment without a valid PIC certificate on site is a finding during inspection regardless of how well the kitchen is run.
Courses
- Person in Charge (PIC) Level 2The supervisory food safety certificate required for the designated person in charge at a food establishment. Covers hazard identification, temperature control, personal hygiene, cleaning, pest control and the legal duties of the role. Renewed every two years. Recognised by Dubai Municipality and ADAFSA.
- Person in Charge (PIC) Level 3The management-level PIC certificate for those responsible for the food safety system across an operation. Covers HACCP implementation, verification, corrective action and management of the team below them. Required for larger or higher-risk food operations.
- Good Food Hygiene PracticeBasic food handler training covering personal hygiene, cross-contamination, temperature control and safe practice for everyone handling food.
- Award in Food SafetyFoundation qualification for food handlers across catering, manufacturing and retail settings.
- Award in Supervising Food SafetySupervisory-level course for those monitoring food safety practice and correcting it in others.
- Award in Managing Food SafetyManagement-level course covering the design and operation of a food safety management system.
- HACCP AwarenessThe seven principles, how a HACCP plan is built, and what each role in the operation contributes to it.
- HACCP Internal AuditorPlanning and conducting internal audits of a HACCP system, gathering evidence and writing findings that get acted on.
- ISO 22000 AwarenessThe management system standard, how it incorporates HACCP, and what it requires beyond the hazard analysis.
- ISO 22000 Internal AuditorAuditing a food safety management system against the standard, including validation, verification and traceability.
PIC certificate requirements
Dubai Municipality mandates a trained Person in Charge on duty at every food establishment, with the certificate level (Level 2 or Level 3) determined by the size and risk profile of the operation under the Dubai Food Code. ADAFSA applies equivalent requirements across Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra. Municipality and ADAFSA inspectors verify PIC certification during routine inspection; certificates are valid for two years and must remain current at all times.
The most common compliance gap is a PIC who has left the business with no trained replacement. ITMAD can hold your training register and notify you before certificates expire or a replacement is needed.
Who should attend
- Designated Persons in Charge at any food establishment
- Head chefs, sous chefs and kitchen supervisors
- Restaurant, cafe and catering managers
- Food production and processing supervisors
- Quality and food safety team members
- Hotel F&B management
- Retail food and supermarket staff
- Anyone conducting internal audits of a HACCP or ISO 22000 system
How courses are delivered
Training is delivered at your premises or at our facilities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, scheduled around service hours so a kitchen team can attend without closing. Delivery is available in languages the workforce actually understands — training delivered in a language a delegate follows only partly produces a certificate rather than safe practice, and the inspector who questions a food handler will find that out.
ITMAD is approved by KHDA (Knowledge and Human Development Authority) in Dubai and ACTVET in Abu Dhabi.
Training informed by certification
ITMAD certifies food businesses against HACCP and ISO 22000 as an EIAC-accredited certification body. The training reflects what audits actually find — records completed retrospectively, corrective actions with no record of what happened to the product, uncalibrated probes invalidating every temperature reading taken with them. Delegates learn the failures that get written up, not just the theory.
ITMAD Academy — self-paced online courses
Where classroom scheduling does not suit, ITMAD Academy delivers self-paced online courses across food safety and management system standards, Exemplar Global recognised, with certificates issued on completion and online verification.