Personal Hygiene and Fitness to Work
Personal hygiene is the cheapest and most effective control in any kitchen. Candidates should know the practical standards: clean outer clothing and a clean apron, hair restrained, no jewellery except a plain band, short clean nails with no polish or false nails, no strong perfume, and hands washed at the designated hand-wash basin (never in a food-prep sink).
Hand washing is the exam favourite. The correct sequence is wet hands, apply soap, lather and rub including backs, between fingers, thumbs and fingertips, rinse, then dry thoroughly with a disposable towel or hand dryer. Hands must be washed before starting work, after using the toilet, after handling raw food, after touching the face or hair, after handling waste, after cleaning, and after breaks. Alcohol gel is not a substitute for washing when hands are visibly soiled.
Fitness to work covers exclusion and reporting. A food handler must report vomiting, diarrhoea, infected skin lesions, discharges from the ear, eye or nose, and any illness that could be transmitted through food. The standard exclusion rule after vomiting or diarrhoea is 48 hours symptom-free before returning to food handling. Cuts must be covered with a detectable waterproof dressing, usually blue.
Traps: questions often test whether a worker should report or be excluded, and whether a plaster is enough for an infected wound (it is not - report it). Also watch for 'hands must be washed after removing gloves' and the 48-hour rule being misstated as 24 hours.