Food handlers play a very important part in ensuring safe food. Hygienic activities, training and effective procedures must be undertaken and understood by all food handlers. Food handlers have a significant responsible in the upkeep of hygienic practices. A considerable cause of food poisoning is ignorance and negligence.

"Food handlers should be in good health and have clean habits to prevent the direct contamination of food. They should show a willingness to learn to prevent the indirect contamination of, and the multiplication of bacteria within food. Dirty staff exhibiting unhygienic practices will, in addition to increasing the risk of food poisoning, certainly hasten a decline in business and reputation."

Source: Sprenger, Richard A. (1995) Hygiene for Management. Highfield Publications.

Your Responsibilities as a Food Handler

You can pass on germs when you handle food. To prevent this you must:

• Always wash your hands.
• Wear clean uniforms.
• Tell your boss if you are unwell.

Wash your hands thoroughly using warm water and soap (preferably bactericidal):

• After using the toilet, at home and at work.
• Before starting work, and after breaks.
• After handling raw food.
• After handling rubbish.

Dry your hands thoroughly after you have washed them.

Clothing

Protective clothing/uniform is worn to protect food from contamination and not to keep other clothes clean. Protective clothing/uniform must be keep clean. It is preferable to wear light colours so that stains are obvious. The design of the uniform should minimise physical contamination of food by having no pockets or buttons. Colour coding may be necessary in different work operations to prevent cross contamination.

Tell your boss if :

• You have been sick (vomiting).
• You have diarrhoea.
• You have infected (red, swollen, pus-containing) sores or cuts.
• You feel unwell.
• You were ill while on holiday.
• Anyone in your household is sick or has diarrhoea.

If you have sickness or diarrhoea, it may be caused by a germ; you must not handle food until you are better.

Typhoid and paratyphoid fever are rare but serious illnesses. You must tell your boss if you think you have been in contact with either of these diseases.

High standards of hygiene within a food establishment prevents the risks of contamination of food. Staff must have a good standard of general health and be introduced to a number of rules, including wearing protective clothing, monitoring and logging temperatures, undertaken training courses and a number of other obligations. Appropriate hygiene training will educate staff and provide a thorough insight into food safety.

A food handler must have:

• A clean and tidy appearance.
• Clean uniforms.
• Absent of skin infections.
• Good dental hygiene.
• Short fingernails which are not bitten.
• Clean hands.
• An absence of excess makeup and jewellery.

A food handler must have an understanding for the need for good hygiene practices.

Your checklist for good hygiene practice:

• Wash and dry your hands thoroughly after going to the toilet and before handling food.
• Do not handle food if you are suffering from diarrhoea and/or vomiting.
• Tell your boss if you or anyone in your household is ill.
• Tell your boss if you have infected cuts or sores.
• Use bright coloured waterproof coverings for cuts and grazes.
• Do not spit, smoke, eat or chew gum when you are handling food.
• Make sure your work clothes are clean.
• Keep your workplace, especially surfaces and utensils, clean.
• Tell your boss if you were ill while on holiday.
• If you have to visit the doctor, remember to say you are a food handler.