Every person working in a food-handling area must maintain a high level of personal Hygiene. Besides making sure that your staff are wearing suitable, clean, and protective clothing, how you should prepare your food should also be taken into consideration.
Before anything else, you should ensure that your staff follow these basic rules:
- keep hair tied back and wear a suitable head covering, e.g. a hat or hair net
- not wear watches or jewellery (except a wedding band)
- not touch their face and hair, smoke, spit, sneeze, eat or chew gum
If you’ve already settled these basic requirements, then you may now proceed with these specific regulations:
Handwashing
All staff that work with food must wash their hands:
- when in the kitchen or preparation area
- before preparing food
- after touching raw food
- after handling food waste or emptying a bin
- after cleaning
- after blowing their nose
- after touching phones, light switches, door handles and cash registers
Fitness for work
- are suffering from, or carrying, a disease likely to be transmitted through food
- have infected wounds, skin infections or sores
- have diarrhoea
Training
Food businesses must make sure that any staff handling food:
- are supervised, instructed and trained in food hygiene
- have relevant training for the job
Health and Safety
The health and safety of your employees and customers are very important.
If you have five or more employees, you must have a written health and safety policy that describes the arrangements in place.