Hand Contact Surface

A hand contact surface is a surface that people frequently touch with their hands during normal use. In a restaurant, these high-touch surfaces can transfer microorganisms between employees, customers, equipment and the surrounding environment if they are not cleaned and maintained appropriately.

Examples of high-touch surfaces

• Door handles, push plates and refrigerator handles.
• Faucet and tap handles, soap dispensers and handwashing controls.
• Point-of-sale screens, keyboards, buttons and payment terminals.
• Light switches, equipment controls and frequently handled knobs.
• Shared telephones, hand tools and other frequently touched objects.

Cleaning and disinfection

Include high-touch surfaces in the restaurant’s environmental cleaning schedule. Select a suitable cleaning product and, where required, an approved disinfectant for the surface and intended use. Follow the product label for dilution, contact time and any required rinsing. Food-contact surfaces require the appropriate cleaning and sanitizing procedure; a general-purpose disinfectant is not automatically suitable for them.

How to manage high-touch surfaces

Identify frequently touched areas through observation, assign responsibility and set a cleaning frequency based on traffic, risk and the operation’s procedures. Increase cleaning when there is a known contamination incident or public-health instruction. Staff should wash hands when required after touching high-touch surfaces before returning to food handling.

Hand contact surface versus food-contact surface

A hand contact surface is defined by how people touch it. A food-contact surface is defined by whether it directly contacts food or can transfer material to food. A refrigerator handle is usually a high-touch environmental surface, while the interior shelf or container holding exposed food may be a food-contact surface.

Example: A restaurant includes refrigerator handles, POS screens and washroom door handles in its routine high-touch cleaning schedule, while separately cleaning and sanitizing food-preparation surfaces.

Chef’s tip: Do not use the same cloth or cleaning tool on high-touch environmental surfaces and food-contact surfaces unless the sanitation procedure specifically allows it and the tool is properly cleaned and sanitised between uses.

Key distinction: A hand contact surface is frequently touched by people. A food-contact surface touches food or may transfer contaminants directly to it; some surfaces can fall into both categories.