How to Get Your Hygieniapassi
The steps to get a hygiene passport in Finland: prepare, find an approved tester, sit the paper test in person and receive your passport.
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Getting the hygieniapassi comes down to passing one test with an approved tester. Here are the steps in order.
1. Check that you need it
You need the passport once you have handled unpackaged, easily perishable food for at least three months. Read who needs the hygieniapassi if you are not sure.
There is no shortcut through education. A hygiene passport cannot be obtained on the basis of a qualification or training, even if your degree included hygiene studies. The test must be passed.
2. Prepare
Training before the test is not mandatory, but the test has 40 true/false statements and 34 correct answers are needed to pass. Work through the lessons and practise with statements in the same format. The free quiz is a good first check.
3. Find an approved tester
The hygiene passport is issued only by a tester approved by Ruokavirasto. Book your test with one of them. The test can be taken in Finnish, Swedish or English.
Testers may charge a fee for the test and for issuing the passport. See what the hygieniapassi costs.
4. Take the test in person
The test is done on paper in a supervised test room. It cannot be organised electronically, remotely, in premises within home peace or abroad. Read more in can you take the test online.
Bring an original, valid photo ID. You have 45 minutes for 40 statements.
5. Get the result
The tester must tell you the result at the latest one month after the test.
6. Receive the passport
The passport consists of an A4 paper certificate and a bank-card-size plastic card. Either part proves your competence. It is valid until further notice, so there is nothing to renew.
7. Show it to your employer
The passport is personal and is not issued to the employer. You show the original card or certificate to the employer, who keeps a record of staff hygiene competence.
If a job is waiting
Employers may ask for the passport before hiring, even though the law only requires it after three months of such work. If you are applying, book the test early.
This is covered in Lesson 14 →
Keep reading
Hygieniapassi Cost
The tester sets the fee for the test and the passport. What the fee covers, who can pay it, and why there is nothing to renew.
Can You Take the Hygieniapassi Test Online?
No. The hygiene passport test is a paper test in a supervised room. It cannot be taken online, remotely, at home or abroad.
Hygieniapassi Test Difficulty: What to Expect
40 true/false statements, 34 correct to pass, 45 minutes, on paper. How hard the hygiene passport test is and how to prepare for it.