Personal hygiene

Hospitality and serving the public requires all workers to be clean, neat and tidy in appearance. The opportunity to transfer contaminants such as bacteria from person to food, or surface to food, must be minimised and this can be achieved through practising personal cleanliness and being aware of possible sources of contamination and cross contamination.
Basic personal hygiene and cleanliness standards are required of all hospitality workers. They should:

• wear clean clothes or uniform, preferably changing into/out of a uniform at the start and finish of work.
• have clean hair, secured in a hairnet or cap, or other hair covering. Facial hair should be trimmed and neat.
• wear minimal jewellery.
• have wounds covered with a waterproof dressing.
• have minimal hand contact by using disposable gloves, barriers or utensils for food handling.
• eat food in areas away from food preparation areas.
• use disposable tasting spoons or utensils.
• avoid body contact such as touching, coughing, scratching or sneezing.
• practice a daily hygiene regime - showering, deodorant.
• not smoke near food preparation areas.
• maintain good health. Sick or ill workers should not return to work until symptoms disappear.
• ensure thorough hand washing procedures.
• refrain from having nail polish or false nails in food preparation areas.
• use Personal Protective Equipment, such as clean aprons, caps or gloves where appropriate.

All work areas in hospitality have specific hygiene requirements.

• public areas – should be cleaned regularly and thoroughly.
• housekeeping – dirty linen should be handled wearing disposable gloves.
  Separate clean and dirty linen and utensils.
• cashier – use disposable gloves when handling money.
• laundry – handle dirty linen wearing gloves. Ensure linen is thoroughly cleaned and processed to kill bacteria.
• waste disposal – should be in a separate area and correct procedures followed for disposal, pest control and cleaning.
• food preparation – separate raw from cooked foods. Practice temperature control of food ensuring food is kept out of the “Danger Zone” of 5°C - 60°C.

Hands should be washed at every change of task, and in particular:

• after using the bathroom
• after handling money
• after sneezing, coughing, scratching or smoking
• after returning from a break and the start of a shift
• after using chemicals
• after handling waste or garbage
• after handling raw foods, particularly meat, poultry or seafood
• after handling dirty or used linen.