Anyone who works near food can be a food safety hazard. Even healthy people carry bacteria on their skin, hands, hair and clothes, and these can cause illness if they reach food.

That is why high standards of personal hygiene are so important. In this module, you will learn how to wash your hands properly, how to dress for work around food, which habits to avoid, and why you must report illness.

Good personal hygiene is something every one of us controls, every day. This module covers:

• Hand hygiene, and the correct way to wash your hands.
• Hair hygiene.
• Nails, jewellery and perfume.
• Cuts, skin conditions and bad habits.
• Protective clothing.
• Reporting illness.

Hands are one of the main ways that food poisoning bacteria reach food, so you must wash them regularly throughout the day.

The law requires food premises to have enough hand wash basins, with hot and cold running water, soap and hygienic drying. In practice, this means liquid soap and disposable paper towels.

Hand wash basins must be used only for washing hands, never for food or equipment.

Even if you do not prepare food, you may handle it, for example when putting out stock, taking food to tables, or organising a storeroom.

Touch open food with your bare hands as little as possible. Use tongs, bags or disposable gloves instead, and keep these tools clean, as dirty tools can also spread bacteria.

Whatever you use, correct hand washing is still essential.

Always wash your hands:

• Before starting work, and when entering a food area.
• Before handling food, and after handling raw food.
• After using the toilet.
• After handling waste, rubbish or outer packaging.
• After handling money or flowers.
• After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.
• After touching your hair, face, mouth, nose or ears.
• After cleaning, or handling chemicals, dirty cloths, crockery or cutlery.
• After helping an ill customer, or changing a dressing.
• After eating, drinking or smoking.

• Use warm running water, between 35°C and 45°C.
• Wet your hands before applying liquid soap, to get a good lather.
• Wash every part: palms, backs, wrists, thumbs, fingertips and between the fingers.
• If you use a nail brush, it must be clean or disposable, and disinfected regularly.
• Rinse thoroughly under running water.
• Dry your hands with a clean disposable towel. Never use a reusable towel, your clothes or your apron.
• Use a paper towel to turn off hand-operated taps.

Follow these steps every time:

• Wet your hands under warm running water.
• Apply enough liquid soap to make a good lather.
• Rub palm to palm, then the back of each hand.
• Interlace your fingers and rub between them.
• Clean your thumbs, fingertips and under your nails.
• Rinse thoroughly under running water.
• Dry with a disposable paper towel, and use it to turn off the tap.

Washing should take at least 20 seconds. It is one of the most important things you can do to prevent food poisoning.

We lose between 50 and 100 hairs a day, and hair in food is a physical hazard. If you work near open food, tie long hair back and wear the head covering you are given, such as a hat or hairnet. It should cover as much hair as possible.

Put your head covering on before the rest of your protective clothing, and take it off last. Never comb your hair or adjust your covering in a food area, and wash your hair regularly.

Head coverings do two jobs. The obvious one is stopping loose hair from falling into food, and since we all lose between fifty and a hundred hairs a day, that is a real risk. The second job is less obvious. Wearing a hat or hairnet discourages you from touching your head and hair, which would otherwise pick up bacteria on your hands and carry them to food. To work properly, the covering should hold in as much hair as possible, and with some hats you may also need to wear a hairnet underneath.

People with beards may be given a beard snood. Put the head covering on before the rest of your protective clothing, so that hairs do not fall onto your clean uniform, and take it off last. If your hair has to be combed or your covering adjusted, do it away from any area where food is handled. Finally, wash your hair regularly. Bacteria multiply on the scalp, and regular shampooing stops them building up to harmful levels.

• Keep your nails short and clean, and do not bite them. Do not wear nail varnish or false nails. Varnish can chip into food, and both can hide dirt.
• Do not wear jewellery or a watch when working around food. Bacteria live on and under them, and items such as earrings can fall into food. Your employer may allow a plain wedding band.
• Avoid strong perfume or aftershave, which can taint food, especially fatty foods.

Cuts, spots, grazes and boils are ideal places for bacteria to grow. Keep them clean, and cover them with a waterproof dressing that is brightly coloured, usually blue, so it is easy to see if it falls off.

Skin conditions such as eczema can also carry food poisoning bacteria. Tell your supervisor, who will decide whether you can handle food. In mild cases, you may be allowed to work wearing protective gloves.

• Only smoke or vape in a designated area away from food rooms, and wash your hands afterwards.
• Never blow or breathe on cutlery or glasses to polish them.
• Never taste food with your fingers. Use a clean spoon each time.
• Never lick your fingers to open bags or separate paper.
• Do not eat, drink or chew gum in food areas.
• Never wipe your hands on your clothing.

Each of these can pass bacteria from your mouth or body to food.

Smoking and food do not mix, for several reasons. When you smoke, your fingers touch your lips again and again, and they pick up saliva droplets and the bacteria that live in your mouth. If you then handle food or food packaging without washing your hands, those bacteria can be passed straight on. The smell of smoke also clings to hands and clothing, and it can taint food, particularly foods with a high fat content, which absorb odours easily.

That is why smoking, including vaping, must only take place in designated areas outside food rooms, and why protective clothing should be taken off before you go out to smoke. Afterwards, always wash your hands thoroughly to remove saliva droplets and unpleasant smells. The same thinking applies to eating, drinking and chewing gum. Each of these brings your hands to your mouth, so they belong in break areas, not in food areas, and they should always be followed by a thorough hand wash before you return to work.

Protective clothing protects food from you. It is a barrier between food and the bacteria on your body and everyday clothes. It is not there to keep you clean.

Depending on your job, it may include overalls, aprons or jackets, hats, hairnets and beard snoods, and disposable gloves. For low-risk jobs, such as working behind a bar, a clean uniform may be enough.

Gloves must be food-grade, and you must wash your hands before putting them on.

Start every shift in clean protective clothing, wear it fastened over your own clothes, and change it when it becomes dirty or damaged.

Do not wear your protective clothing:

• When using the toilet.
• When travelling to and from work.
• During breaks, especially outside, or when eating or smoking.

This stops it picking up dirt and bacteria outside the food area and carrying them back to the food.

If you are ill, you could contaminate food. You have a legal duty to tell your manager or supervisor before you come to work if you have, or have recently had, food poisoning or any of these symptoms:

• Diarrhoea or vomiting.
• Nausea.
• Discharge from the ears, eyes or nose.
• Cold or flu-like symptoms.
• Infected cuts, boils, open wounds or broken skin.
• Any other skin condition or infection.

You should also tell your supervisor if:

• Someone you live with has food poisoning.
• You have eaten a meal known to have caused food poisoning.
• You were ill while abroad.

Your supervisor will decide whether you are fit for work. If you have had diarrhoea or vomiting, you must not return until 48 hours after your symptoms have stopped.