Importance of Personal Hygiene

It is imperative for safe food-handling outcomes for all workers to be familiar with standard sanitation and hygiene practices. One of the basic principles is to break the cycle by avoiding cross-contamination, which can be achieved by ensuring personal hygiene practices are followed.

Proper personal hygiene is critical in any foodservice premise. Personal hygiene includes:

• Showering and bathing regularly.
• Keeping hair, clean hair, and covered or tied back. Wear a hair net for longer hairs. Wash your hands after touching your hair, beard, or mustache.
• Keeping clean clothing and footwear that is used only at work.
• Unless intact gloves are worn, employees working with exposed food may not wear fingernail polish. Nails should be trimmed, filed, and maintained so that edges are not rough. Artificial nails are not permitted in the food production kitchen as they can fail off.
• Change your uniform and apron as often as necessary. Always remove your apron before going to the washroom.
• Avoid smoking, eating, or engaging in other activities that put your hands in contact with your mouth.
• Handwashing regularly and thoroughly after contact with any possible contaminant. Alcohol-based hand gels are NOT a suitable alternative to hand washing for food handlers in foodservice premises.
• Use a single-use or clean utensils for tasting the food.
• Using separate cloths for cleaning and wiping plates.
• Proper and regular handwashing is a critical part of any food safety system. You must always wash your hands after:
  • Sneezing, coughing, or touching your mouth or nose
  • Using the bathroom
  • Smoking or using toothpicks
  • Handling raw foods
  • Cleaning and wiping tables, food preparation surfaces, or equipment
  • Handling soiled objects, garbage, or money
  • Using your phone

Staying at home when sick

You may feel some days that you should tough it out and go to work instead of informing your manager that you aren’t feeling well, but that could be dangerous. If you are experiencing vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, or fever accompanied by a sore throat, or if you have open cuts or sores, you must not handle food. Check out your establishment’s employee sickness policy and report your symptoms to your manager.

Going to work when sick could endanger numerous customers and other employees. Be responsible and report any symptoms to your manager and stay home to avoid the spreading of the illness.