Health and Sanitation Standards

Personal Health and Sanitation Standards

Personal Hygiene

Additionally, hygiene and sanitation are essential to the job: a safe food handler is critical to the prevention of foodborne illnesses, which can spread several ways. Proper procedures must be followed to ensure customers have a positive, sanitary experience.

• Hair: Always restrain your hair properly with uniform hat or hair net. All hair, including bangs, should be fully under the gat or hair net.
• Facial Hair: Neatly groomed facial hair. Food handlers must wear beard guards.
• No Headphones or Earbuds: Wearing personal headphones or earbuds is prohibited anytime while you are on the clock for both safety and sanitation.
• Injury: Cover open cuts, sores and lesions with proper bandaging.
• Food/Drinks: Do not eat, drink, smoke or chew tobacco in food preparation or service areas.
• Chewing Gum: Chewing gum in prohibited anytime while you are on the clock.
• Cell Phone and Electronic Devices: Use of cell phones and other entertainment devices are not permitted while on duty. Cell Phone use is strictly prohibited in areas with direct food handling or in guest view. You may use during scheduled break.

Illness

To control the spread of disease to staff, guests and food, you are encouraged to report any illness to your supervisor. Depending on your symptoms, a manager will restrict you from handling food or exclude you from coming into work altogether.

In the event of an illness, follow the procedure in calling off outlined in this manual. To return to work, you must have been clear of symptoms for at least 24 hours or have a written release from a medical practitioner. Per Ohio Revised Food Code, failure to report the listed illnesses, symptoms or diagnosis could result in ramifications by the local health authority.

You should not come in to work if: 

• Have lesions containing pus on hands, wrists or exposed body parts
• Experiencing flu-like symptoms:
  • fever
  • vomiting
  • diarrhea
  • constant sneezing and/or coughing
• Diagnosed with the following by a health care provider
  • Campylobacter
  • Cryptosporidium
  • Cyclospora 
  • Entamoeba histolytica 
  • Enterohemorrhagic or Shiga toxin prodicing Escherichia Coli
  • Giardia 
  • Hepatitis A
  • Norovirus
  • Salmonella SPP
  • Salmonella Typhi
  • Shigella
  • Virbrio Cholerae
  • Yersinia

Handwashing

Proper hand washing is the number one combatant of food borne illness. 

You must wash your hands properly after:

• Touching any area of your body (e.g. ears, mouth, nose, hair or clothing)
• Handling money or other payment methods
• Contacting unclean equipment and work surfaces
• Smoking
• Handling raw food, particularly meat and poultry
• Clearing away and scraping dishes and utensils
• Eating
• Using the restroom
• Using gloves
• Any other condition where cross-contamination may occur, such as front-of-house duties like trash removal, sweeping or wiping tables. 

Proper hand-washing procedure: 

1. Wet your hands with hot running water.
2. Apply approved antimicrobial soap and lather for at least 20 seconds.
3. Clean under fingernails and between fingers. 
4. Rinse hands thoroughly under running water.
5. Dry your hands with a fresh, disposable paper towel.

Glove Use

Gloves are not a replacement for proper hand washing and must be worn when serving or handling any unpackaged food items. Gloves are always single-use and must be changed when you are changing tasks. Remember, once you are wearing gloves, you must not touch your hair, face, clothing or other parts of the body, the floor, chemicals or any other surface that could transfer contaminants to the food. 

Change your gloves when:

• Gloves become soiled, discolored or torn.
• Before begining a different task.
• At least every four hours during continual use.
• After handling raw meat, fish or poultry and before handling cooked or ready-to-eat food.