Safe Food Handler Notes

Outbreak Management

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

Plans for Today

  1. Link food safety policies and procedures to enhance personal responsibility in food handling.
  2. Describe common behaviors that increase the risk of foodborne illnesses through personal hygiene.
  3. Discuss the significance of employee safety.

Manager Awareness

  • Unconscious behaviors and habits can compromise 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 that employees will automatically understand; training and reminders are necessary.
  • Corrective action concept should be considered.

Food Handlers and Safety

  • Poorly trained food handlers increase food safety risks and can cause contamination at any point in the food handling process.
  • Ill employees pose significant risks.
  • Unconscious habits and failure to adhere to food safety procedures worsen existing risks or introduce 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.
  • Consistently model correct behavior.
  • Supervise food safety practices.
  • Update personal hygiene policies to reflect changes in laws or scientific knowledge.

Topics of Personal Hygiene

  • Handwashing and hand care.
  • Single-use gloves.
  • Covering wounds.
  • Personal cleanliness.
  • Controlling behaviors that can cause contamination (eating, drinking, oral to hand contact).
  • Hairnets.
  • Reporting illness and proper use of 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 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 (without hand washing) is insufficient unless it is for the same task.
  • Handle gloves as little as possible to maintain cleanliness; do not reuse them.
  • Change gloves when they are dirty/torn, before starting new tasks, after interruptions, after handling hazardous foods, before handling ready-to-eat (RTE) foods, and after 4 hours of uninterrupted 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, including clean aprons, hair restraints, and adherence to jewelry standards (rings, bracelets, watches).
  • Restrict eating, drinking, smoking, and chewing gum/tobacco to designated areas.
  • Covered containers for drinks may be permitted if handled carefully to avoid contaminating hands, food, and equipment.

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 either of the following criteria is met:
      • No symptoms for at least 24 hours.
      • Medical release is obtained.
    • Jaundice must be reported to the regulatory authority and requires a medical release and approval from the regulatory authority for the employee to return to work.
  • Vomiting or diarrhea caused by Norovirus, Shigella, Nontyphoidal Salmonella, or E. coli:
  • Diagnosed with Hepatitis A or Salmonella Typhi:
    • Exclude the employee and report to the regulatory authority.
    • Collaborate with medical providers and the regulatory authority to determine when the employee can return to work.

Worker Safety

  • The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) mandates that employers establish 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 serving ware 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.
    • Worker's compensation.
    • Reporting and insurance costs.

Manager’s Tasks

  • Similar to food safety, training is crucial to address safety blind spots.
  • Ensure the entire team is committed to safe behaviors.
  • Report injuries correctly when they occur.

What is Next?

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