Hand Washing for Food Handlers
Hand washing for food handlers is an essential aspect of cleanliness and hygiene. When it comes to food hazards, food handlers are potentially one of the biggest risks in terms of food safety. However, to extend this, hand washing is not important only in a food preparing environment, but in a domestic one as well.
Hand Washing at Home
According to a research by BMC Public Health, Denmark tops the ranking when hand hygiene of consumers is looked into. According to a study Hand hygiene practices during meal preparation—a ranking among ten European countries, the ranking is as follows: Denmark, Greece, Norway, Romania, Hungary, Germany, UK, Portugal, France, and Spain. However, the overall conclusion of the study was that the hand washing is often done incorrectly by skipping areas of hand when washing, or washing one’s hands not long enough. Unfortunately, this is also true when handling risky food such as raw chicken. According to the study, the young families and pregnant women are most likely to neglect a proper hand washing technique. On the other hand, the elderly individuals generally do not wash their hands when required.
Hand Washing for Food Handlers – Why is it Important
Most likely, the single most important activity in the food preparation area is proper hand washing. Hands are used for everything – scratching your nose, touching your phone, keys, emptying bins, handling cash, and finally touching the food that is being prepared. It is incredibly easy to cross-contaminate food just by using unwashed hands.
Food workers have a moral and legal responsibility to ensure that they do not contaminate food. One of the characteristics of a good food worker is a positive attitude towards hygiene and a willingness to help maintain a high standard at the workplace. Hand washing is at the top of hygiene importance.
Food hygiene legislation places a legal responsibility on food workers, proprietors and visitors to maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness.
Keep the body clean – Food workers should wash or shower daily to remove the layers of dirt, dead skin, sweat and bacteria that build up on the body which can be passed onto food.
The law requires that:
- Food workers are required to maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness and wear suitable clean clothes, and, if necessary, protective clothing.
- It is an offense for an employee of a food business to fail to comply with Annex II of the Regulation EC no. 852/2004 (on the hygiene of foodstuffs).
Want to learn more? Explore eLearn Safety fully online Food Safety (HACCP) Level 1 course.
When to Wash Hands
Hands can never be washed too often, but they can be washed not often enough. This is especially important when hand washing for food handlers is in question. Always aim to wash your hands:
- Before changing into work clothes to avoid transferring dirt and bacteria onto them.
- Before handling food of any type.
- After handling one type of food and before handling something else, especially after handling raw meat, poultry, seafood, raw eggs and dairy.
- After cleaning surfaces, utensils or any equipment.
- After handling waste.
- After handling money.
- After blowing your nose.
- After coughing or sneezing.
- After touching hair or face.
- After going to the toilet.
- After eating, drinking or smoking.
The main point to take is – Wash Your Hands regularly!
Hand Washing for Food Handlers – How To Steps
Hands must be washed at a wash hand basin supplied with running hot and cold water. Liquid bacterial soap and an approved means of hand drying should be used. The hands, front and back and the gap between the thumb and forefinger must be washed using a rubbing action. It is not satisfactory to run fingers under the tap and then to dry hands on uniforms.
- Hands should be thoroughly dried.
- Separate sinks need to be available for hand washing!
- The correct way to wash your hands:
- If required, make sure your sleeves are pulled up or turned up and they don’t cover your wrists.
- Wet your hands under warm running water.
- Use enough soap to form a good lather, and soap all parts of your hand, fingers and thumbs right up to the wrist.
- Keep washing your hands for about 20 seconds.
- Rinse your hands under running water until they are free of all traces of lather. Use fingers to help remove the suds.
- Turn off the tap with an elbow or paper towel.
- Dry hands thoroughly using fresh paper towels.
To learn more watch the below video prepared by SafeFood.net titled How to wash your hands properly.
Hand Washing for Food Handlers – Why Does it Matter?
Hand washing for food handlers is extremely important as correct hand washing will remove bacteria such as E. Coli and salmonella. Bacteria on the hands have an ideal environment, They have food, moisture and a temperature of around 37°C allowing speedy reproduction and a higher risk of infection. This is why hands must be kept meticulously clean at all times.
Online Food Safety Training
Please remember – it is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Food Safety (HACCP) courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Are there Food Safety Requirements for a Childcare Provider?
The Environmental Health Association of Ireland (EHAI) recommends that where a childcare service provides food to children, relevant staff are required to have food safety training.
The childcare provider needs to have a HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point) Food Safety System in place.
Your food safety management system allows you to identify and control any hazards that could pose a danger to the preparation of safe food. It helps you to:
- identify what can go wrong
- plan to prevent it
- make sure you are doing it.
According to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), If you are responsible for developing and maintaining your business’s HACCP based procedures then you must undertake adequate training in the application of HACCP principles.
HACCP training is a requirement
What Level of Food Safety Training Do Our Staff Need?
The Food Safety (HACCP) Level 1 course is ideal for those with no previous experience, with light food handling duties and/or performing low-risk duties (such as waiters, baristas, caregivers, kitchen porters, deli shop assistants, etc.).
This is the recommended level for all food handlers, or those working in a kitchen setting, who do not have management responsibility for HACCP.
Food Safety HACCP Level 3 defines food safety skills for management and is aimed specifically towards Catering Managers, Supervisors, Executive and Head Chefs within the Hospitality Industry, Industrial and Institutional Catering Units, along with the Health Sector, Retail Sector and Delis.There should be at least one food worker with Food Safety HACCP Level 3 on duty in a food premises.
Managers, Owners, need to be able to manage HACCP systems. They should also have a good understanding of how to implement a HACCP Programme for their workplace. All food businesses are required by law to have a food safety management system in place based on the principles of HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point).
What Can Myelearnsafety Do for You?
Contact Myelearnsafety, HACCP Food Safety Training Consultants can be contacted for free HACCP Food Safety Advice and Guidance.
Telephone the office @ 01 278 1938 – As for Shane or Cormac
Top Challenges That Early Childcare Educators Face
We at Elearn are always looking to share valuable information with our followers. The Houses of the Oireachtas have written a very informative Report on the Working Conditions of the Early Years Education and Care.
Early Childcare Educators Challenges
Training and Upskilling
vi) The Role of State Funded Training Agencies in Improving Quality Standards Training organisations offering accredited childcare training programmes have a crucial role to play in ensuring the high standard of training on offer. Training organisations need to be fully committed to providing the best quality training programmes for the early years workforce. Those facilitating programmes must hold the appropriate skills, experience and qualifications and regularly access continuing professional development themselves to keep updated in early childhood policy and practice.
Quality assurance standards should be consistently applied and all early childhood care and education programme content should be current, relevant and fit for purpose. Training organisations should also ensure that there are sufficient places available on part-time courses so that the early childhood workforce can combine work and study while progressing to levels 7 and above on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). Systems of Recognition for Prior Learning (RPL) should be in place to recognise and reward the skills base developed by staff working in the sector, who require formally recognised qualifications, over a number of years.
Both education and training appear to be better predictors of childcare quality than practitioner’s age, work experience or professionalism. The fact that childcare providers who continuously participate in training offer higher quality care than providers who attended training sporadically is also evident. In Ireland, most training currently supported by State funding in the Early Childhood sector focuses on the ECCE scheme, with less training or development offered for those working with children under three years of age (e.g. Leadership for Inclusion (LINC) training). It was highlighted by practitioners that the level of supports available to those working with children over three should be available to those working with under 3s, and that there cannot be an inequality in relation to supports available. Such inequality serves only to disadvantage both staff and children….. Continue reading
If you are interested in Childcare Courses to up-skill yourself or your colleagues/employees, take a look at our ChildCare Package overview here where we have bundled all the course requirement for early childcare educators for your connivance at a cheaper price then taking all the courses separately.
Children First Legislation
We at Elearn are always looking to share valuable information with our followers. The Department of Children and Youth affairs have written a very informative piece on the Childrens First Legislation, which is the Childrens First Act 2015, this act provides for a number of key child protection measures.
Children First Legislation
The Children First Act 2015 (the Act), which was signed into law on 19 November 2015, puts elements of the Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children on a statutory footing. The legislation was a key Programme for Government commitment, and forms part of a suite of child protection legislation which includes the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts, 2012-2016 and the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012.
The Act provides for a number of key child protection measures, as follows:
• A requirement on organisations providing services to children to keep children safe from harm and to produce a Child Safeguarding Statement;
• A requirement on defined categories of persons (mandated persons) to report child protection concerns over a defined threshold to the Child and Family Agency;
• A requirement on mandated persons to assist the Child and Family Agency in the assessment of a child protection risk, if requested to do so by the Agency;
• Putting the Children First Interdepartmental Implementation Group on a statutory footing.
The Act also includes a provision which abolished the common law defence of reasonable chastisement in relation to corporal punishment… Continue reading