Personal Hygiene: Handwashing, Gloves, and Reporting Illness
Handwashing is the single most important habit
Wet hands with warm running water, apply soap, scrub palms, backs, between fingers and under nails for at least 10–15 seconds (about 20 seconds total), rinse, and dry with a single-use paper towel - then use that towel to turn off the faucet and open the door. Wash before starting work, after using the restroom, after touching your face, hair, or body, after coughing or sneezing, after handling raw meat or garbage, after cleaning, and before putting on gloves. Hand sanitizer is not a substitute for washing.
Gloves and bare-hand contact
Gloves never replace handwashing; put them on only after washing. Change them when torn or soiled, between tasks, and at least every four hours during the same task. Food handlers must avoid bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food - use tongs, deli tissue, utensils, or single-use gloves. Fingernail polish and artificial nails are not allowed unless the worker wears intact gloves.
Reporting illness
You must tell your manager immediately if you have vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, a sore throat with fever, or an infected wound on the hand or arm. If you are diagnosed with one of the Big Six pathogens, you may be excluded from the operation until cleared. The trap here is the question that offers "take medicine and keep working" or "wear gloves and keep working" - the answer is always to report it.
Rule of thumb
Ask yourself, "Would I be comfortable eating food this person just touched?" If you are about to touch food, a utensil, or a wrapper after touching anything else, wash first. Worked example: a cook cracks raw eggs, then reaches for a lettuce leaf. Correct action: remove gloves, wash hands, put on new gloves, then handle the lettuce.