Personal Hygiene and Health of Food Handlers
What the exam tests
Personal hygiene questions test handwashing technique and timing, fitness-to-work decisions, dress and personal habits, and the limits of gloves.
Hand hygiene
Wash hands with soap and potable running water for at least 20 seconds: wet, soap, lather including backs, between fingers, thumbs and under nails, rinse, dry with a single-use towel or air dryer. Wash before starting work, after using the toilet, after handling raw meat/poultry/seafood/eggs, after touching your face, hair, phone or rubbish, after cleaning, after smoking/eating, and between raw and ready-to-eat tasks. Alcohol rub is not a substitute for handwashing when hands are visibly soiled or after toilet use.
Health, dress and habits
Food handlers must report vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, sore throat, jaundice, infected cuts or skin lesions. Exclude symptomatic workers from food handling; return-to-work may require medical clearance, especially after typhoid, hepatitis A or E. coli. Cover wounds with a waterproof, detectable dressing and a glove. Wear clean clothing, a hair restraint, and no jewellery on hands or wrists; nails short, no polish or artificial nails. Do not eat, drink, smoke, vape or chew gum in food areas. Gloves are not a substitute for handwashing and must be changed between tasks.
Worked example
A cook has diarrhoea on Monday, stays home, and feels well on Tuesday. Should she handle food immediately? Not necessarily. Pathogens can be shed after symptoms resolve, and local policy or a medical clearance may require exclusion for 48 hours. The safe answer is to follow the fitness-to-work policy and obtain clearance before returning to ready-to-eat food handling.
Traps that cost marks
- Saying gloves remove the need to wash hands.
- Washing only after handling raw food but not before.
- Allowing a worker with a covered infected hand to handle open food.
- Treating a negative stool test as the only return-to-work criterion.