Safe Food Handling and Personal Hygiene

Outbreak Management and Food Handler Role

  • Management plays a crucial role in controlling outbreaks caused by food handlers.
  • Key questions to address:
    • What training should be provided?
    • What aspects should be monitored?
    • When should corrective actions (exclusion, task changes, reporting to authorities) be implemented?

Objectives

  • Link food safety policies and procedures to enhance personal responsibility in food handling.
  • Describe common behaviors that increase the risk of foodborne illness due to poor personal hygiene.
  • Discuss the importance of employee safety.

Manager Awareness

  • Unconscious behaviors and habits can compromise food safety.
  • Safety plans addressing food handling and personal cleanliness are essential.
  • Consistent adherence to the plan requires repeated and comprehensive training.
  • Managers should not assume employees inherently understand food safety; training and reminders are necessary.
  • Consider implementing corrective actions when necessary.

Food Handlers and Safety

  • Poorly trained food handlers increase the risk of food contamination at every stage of the food handling process.
  • Ill employees pose a significant risk to food safety.
  • Unconscious habits and non-adherence to food safety procedures exacerbate existing risks or create new ones.

Creating a Personal Hygiene Program

  • Develop personal hygiene policies based on critical control points.
  • Train food handlers on personal hygiene policies and provide regular retraining.
  • Model correct behavior at all times.
  • Supervise food safety practices to ensure compliance.
  • Revise personal hygiene policies as laws or scientific knowledge evolves.

Topics of Personal Hygiene

  • Handwashing and hand care.
  • Proper use of single-use gloves.
  • Covering wounds appropriately.
  • Maintaining personal cleanliness.
  • Controlling behaviors that can cause contamination (eating, drinking, oral contact with hands).
  • Wearing hairnets.
  • Reporting illness and adhering to restrictions and exclusions.

Handwashing and Hand Care

  • Wash hands appropriately and dry them correctly.
  • Wash hands at appropriate intervals.
  • Antiseptics are not a substitute for proper handwashing.
  • Hand care guidelines:
    • No false fingernails or polish.
    • Cover wounds or boils correctly.

Single-Use Gloves

  • Wash hands before putting on gloves.
  • Changing gloves alone is insufficient; handwashing is still necessary.
  • Handle gloves as little as possible to maintain cleanliness.
  • Do not reuse gloves.
  • Change gloves when:
    • Dirty or torn.
    • Before starting new tasks.
    • After interruptions.
    • After handling hazardous foods.
    • Before handling ready-to-eat (RTE) foods.
    • After 4 hours of continuous use.
  • Avoid bare-hand contact with RTE foods unless they will be cooked as an ingredient.

Personal Hygiene Practices

  • Maintain personal cleanliness of hair and skin.
  • Wear clean work attire and aprons.
  • Use hair restraints.
  • Adhere to jewelry standards (rings, bracelets, watches).
  • Restrict eating, drinking, smoking, and chewing gum/tobacco to designated areas.
  • Covered containers for drinks may be allowed if handled carefully to prevent contamination.

Restriction or Exclusion: Reporting Illness

  • Wound or boil that is not properly covered:
    • Restrict from working with food, utensils, and equipment.
  • Sore throat and fever:
    • Restrict from working with food, utensils, and equipment.
    • Exclude if serving a high-risk population.
  • Sneezing, coughing, runny nose with discharge:
    • Restrict from working with food, utensils, and equipment.
  • Vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice:
    • Exclude from operation until:
      • No symptoms for at least 24 hours, or
      • Medical release is obtained.
    • Jaundice must be reported to the regulatory authority and requires a medical release and approval to return.
  • Vomiting or diarrhea caused by Norovirus, Shigella, Nontyphoidal Salmonella, or E. coli:
  • Diagnosed with Hepatitis A or Salmonella Typhi:
    • Exclude and report to the regulatory authority. Work with medical providers and the regulatory authority to determine when employees can return.

Worker Safety

  • Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) requires employers to create a safe workspace and prevent injuries.

Common Kitchen Hazards

  • Slips, trips, and falls on slippery floors.
  • Back and arm strain from lifting heavy trays and boxes.
  • Burns from hot servingware and cooking equipment.
  • Cuts during food preparation.
  • Injuries from workplace violence.
  • Back and leg strain from standing for extended periods.
  • Skin or eye irritation from spilled chemicals.

Employee’s Rights to Safe Workplace

  • Guaranteed under OSHA:
    • Safe and healthy workspace.
    • Workman’s compensation.
    • Reporting and insurance costs

Manager’s Tasks

  • Training is vital to address safety blind spots, similar to food safety.
  • Ensure the entire team is committed to safe behaviors.
  • Report injuries correctly when they occur.

Next Steps

  • Introduction to the Flow of Food
  • Be prepared to list the parameters to teach and observe related to personal hygiene practices, including handwashing, glove use, physical cleanliness, and reporting illness.