Personal Hygiene

Humans may well be the most dangerous pest in the food preparation and storage areas. We carry bacteria and viruses around on our bodies that if not controlled can get into food and cause illness. This is especially so in the case of opportunistic pathogens that may be harmless or even beneficial on us but disease-causing if they get back into food and are consumed, or if they produce toxins in the food.

To prevent being the source of food borne illness or contamination, follow the following personal hygiene rules:

• ALWAYS wash your hands: before preparing food; after handling rubbish, going to the bathroom, handling chemicals, touching your face or hair, handling money; and whenever your hands become dirty. Use warm water and soap and rug vigorously for at least ten seconds.
• Trim your finger nails and keep them clean and without polish.
• Keep your hands out of your pockets and away from your nose. 
• Remove jewellery from hands/wrists when washing hands and to prevent jewellery becoming a source of cross-contamination when handling food.
• Wear gloves to if you have a flaky or wet skin condition or are wearing a wound dressing. Wash hands before putting on gloves and change them just as regularly as you would wash ungloved hands.
• Do not prepare or serve food if you are ill with a cold or 'flu.
• Do not prepare or serve food if you are ill with any sort of vomiting or diarrhoea, unless it is confirmed by your doctor to be caused by a non-microbial reason (such as pregnancy or irritable bowel syndrome). If you do get ill with vomiting or diarrhoea, seek medical advice and diagosis to learn how long you must wait before returning to food handling and whether it is notifiable to your local Community Health team.
• Wear fresh clean clothes each day. You may even need to keep a spare outfit at work if you are likely to get really dirty during the day. These clothes should be put on at work not worn from home, to ensure you don't bring dog hairs, road dust and other 'outside' contamination into the food preparation area. Don't wear fluffy clothes that could shed into food. Be sure you are comfortable so that you don't get sweaty or itchy and need to touch yourself.
• Wear adequate clothing protection suitable to the food preparation task. Some tasks may require a full covering uniform while for others, an apron will suffice.
• Tie back or cover all head hair when preparing or serving food to ensure it cannot be a source of contamination. 
• Keep your teeth healthy and clean.
• Keep your hands and fingers away from your mouth. 
• Don't smoke in a food area or before handling food without washing your hands.
• Have a first-aid kit in all food premises. If someone sustains a wound at work, clean, dress and cover the wound properly until it is healed. Anyone with an infected or suppurating wound on the hands or wrists should not handle food. Clean and sanitise any surface where blood has been spilt using a chlorine solution and throw away any food contaminated.