Handwashing and personal hygiene for food handlers

When to wash hands

• Before starting work, and before handling food.
• After handling raw meat, poultry, fish, eggs or unwashed vegetables.
• After using the toilet.
• After a break, eating, smoking or using a phone.
• After touching bins, waste, cleaning chemicals or dirty cloths.
• After touching your face, hair, nose or a cut.
• After handling any of the 14 allergens, before preparing an allergen-free order.

How to wash hands

1. Wet hands under warm running water.
2. Use liquid soap and rub every part: palms, backs, between fingers, thumbs, fingertips and wrists, for at least 20 seconds.
3. Rinse well.
4. Dry thoroughly with a disposable paper towel, and use it to turn off the tap if it isn’t hands-free.

Hand sanitiser is not a replacement for washing, and neither are gloves: change gloves as often as you would wash your hands.

Wash-hand basins

EU hygiene law (Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Annex II) requires enough washbasins with hot and cold running water and materials for cleaning and hygienically drying hands, separate from sinks used for washing food. Keep the basin clear, stocked with liquid soap and paper towels, and never use it for anything else.

Illness: the 48-hour rule

• Staff with diarrhoea or vomiting must tell their manager straight away. This is a legal duty.
• They must not handle food until they have had no symptoms for 48 hours. FSAI guidance is that they can still carry food poisoning bacteria for 48 hours after symptoms stop.
• Infected wounds, skin infections and sores must also be reported.
• Use a fitness to work record when staff start and when they return after illness. Our free fitness to work record follows the FSAI’s SC7 form.

Cuts, clothing and jewellery

• Cover cuts with a blue waterproof plaster, and a glove on the hand.
• Wear clean protective clothing used only at work, and tie back or cover hair.
• Remove watches and jewellery (many kitchens allow a plain band), and keep nails short and clean, without varnish or false nails.
• No eating, smoking or vaping in food areas.

Training and records

Food handlers must be supervised and instructed or trained in food hygiene to suit their work. See food safety training requirements and our free staff training record. In Hygivo, any staff member can log a problem from their phone so a manager sees it straight away.

See the FSAI’s guidance on safe food handling and the FSAI Safe Catering pack. This is general information, not advice for your business. Your food safety management system (HACCP plan) and FSAI guidance are the reference. Hygivo is not affiliated with or endorsed by the FSAI.