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Food safety

Personal cleanliness | Hand washing | Other sources of contamination | Staff illness

Good personal hygiene reduces the likelihood of food contamination and applies to every food handler who works in food areas. Personal hygiene includes personal cleanliness, hand washing, protective clothing and staff sickness.

Personal cleanliness

• hair should be tied back and preferably covered
• food handlers should not spit, sneeze or cough over food
• food handlers should smoke away from any exits where smoke and odour can seep back into the building and not in any food preparation area
• cuts and sores should be covered with a waterproof (and preferably highly visible) dressing
• use disposable gloves
• wear minimum jewellery (a plain wedding band is acceptable)
• keep fingernails short and clean, with no false nails, nail varnish or other nail decoration
• use tongs whenever possible when handling food
• do not wipe hands on work clothes, apron or kitchen clothes, use the hand wash basin
• sample cooking with a clean spoon each time.

Hand washing

Wash hands thoroughly with antibacterial liquid soap, a nail brush, and warm water and then dry with disposable paper towels:

• on entering the food area
• after going to the toilet
• before handling food
• when hands are dirty or soiled
• after using a handkerchief
• after handling raw food
• after smoking
• after taking a break, eating or drinking
• after coughing, or touching hair, nose or mouth.

Other sources of contamination

Food can be easily contaminated so:

• do not sneeze or cough near food or dishes
• wear clean work clothes every day
• use tongs whenever possible when handling food
• do not touch hair, nose or mouth during food preparation
• keep hair covered
• cover minor cuts and abrasions on hands with disposable gloves
• do not wear rings and other jewellery
• advise supervisor if unwell
• do not wipe hands on work clothes, apron or kitchen clothes. Use the hand wash basin
• sample cooking with a clean spoon each time.

Staff illness

• it is important that your staff tell you of any illness that they have
• staff who are ill should not be allowed to handle food.

There is a requirement to report illnesses that may present a hazard to food safety and to exclude people from food handling duties where there is any likelihood of causing contamination of food.

Reporting illness

Food handling staff must, by law, report illness to their manager. In particular, they must report any skin, nose, throat, stomach or bowel trouble or if they have any infected wounds.

It is good practice to encourage staff to also report if anyone in their household is suffering from diarrhoea, stomach upset or vomiting.

Food handlers suffering from any of the above complaints must be excluded from food handling until they have fully recovered.

Note: The law puts the responsibility on employers to satisfy themselves that no food handler poses a risk to food safety.

Return to work after illness

It is recommended that staff should not return to work until they have been free of gastro-intestinal symptoms (vomiting/diarrhoea) for 48 hours.

Staff who have been taking anti-diarrhoeal medication should not return to work until they have been symptom-free for at least 48 hours after stopping the use of the medication.

Asking your employees to complete a return to work questionnaire after any period of illness will help you decide if they are fit to resume food handling duties.

For further information visit the New Zealand Food Safety Authority website.

Return to work questionnaire (65kb) PDF

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