Employee Health Hygiene Preventing Food Borne Illness Employee

Employee Health & Hygiene Preventing Food Borne Illness

Employee Health l l Employees need to come to work healthy, not sick. Communicable illnesses can contaminate food. Contaminated food can make consumers sick. The common cold is not considered contagious through food.

Employee Health cont. l l l Bacteria live all over the body. Some of them can be severely hazardous to consumers. Cuts and abrasions on hands can be a source of deadly contamination and the affected person would not even know. Cuts and abrasions need to be addressed before working. Go see your supervisor for supplies.

Employee Health cont. l l l Symptoms such as: vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, chills, severe abdominal cramps, unusual rash, open lesions, severe persistent cough can all be associated with communicable illnesses. If you’re sick with any of the communicable illness symptoms, then please phone in sick and go see a doctor. If you become sick with communicable illness symptoms while at work, tell your supervisor right away.

Employee Health cont. l l If you go to the doctor because of illness, you are required to tell the doctor that you work in a food production plant and you are a food handler, whether the doctor asks or not. If the doctor gives work related instructions, these must be communicated to management before the next scheduled shift.

Employee Health cont. l l l You must inform management if they have or contract any communicable diseases. If any employee appears too unwell to work, they may be sent home or to a doctor. Management reserves the right to ask for a clean bill of health at any time.

Specific Health Concerns l l l If you have had a severe case of vomiting, fever/chills and/or diarrhea for 48 hours, you need to notify management and go to the doctor to be tested for Salmonella. We request that if you’re going to the doctor for Salmonella testing or other communicable illness concerns such as Hepatitis, please notify management in advance and let us know the name, & if possible, the fax number for your doctor. We have an information letter we will send with the employee or fax directly to the doctor informing him/her of our requirements before the appointment. We will require a clean bill of health prior to your return to work.

Basic Personal Hygiene l l l Even healthy workers can accidentally contaminate food. You are responsible for wearing clean clothes to work each shift. Sources of contamination such as pet hair, mud, etc. need to be kept out of food handling operations. Finger nails are to be kept short and clean. No spitting, no smoking, no gum chewing, no food (including cough candies and mints), no eating (including sprouts), no drinks, no nail polish, and no other tobacco products in the plant. For those who wish to eat products, please wait for break time and eat them in staff break areas only – NEVER at the work station.

Work Gear l l Gum boots or sturdy waterproof footwear are required (open toed shoes are not suitable). Ask about the boot and gel insole allowances. Smocks, aprons or rainpants, hairnets and gloves are provided by the company and must be worn by all food handlers. If you require some piece of gear that is not currently on the premises, please discuss this with management before you bring anything new.

Boot Dips l l Boot dips are intended to remove contaminants from footwear as people pass from one area to another. The first boot dip is at the front door, the second is at the _____, third is outside the _____, When going between areas, be sure to comply with that area’s guidelines and walk through foot baths and wash your hands in the new area. This helps prevent cross contamination between product lines.

Jewelry Policy l l All watches, rings, bracelets, earrings & any other type of jewelry or exposed adornments must be removed prior to beginning work. Store valuables in a safe place. Medic alerts are allowed to be worn but must be secured so they cannot fall off and end up in the food. If the medic alert is on the wrist, it must be thoroughly washed and covered by a glove during food handling work.

Gearing Up l l l l Remove jewellery & adornments Tie up hair as needed Put on smock Put on hairnet Put on apron or rainpants Wash hands Put on gloves Wash gloves (if re-usable gloves are being worn)

Hand Washing l l l l Push up sleeves as needed Rinse with warm water Apply liquid soap and scrub thoroughly Rinse with warm water Dry with clean paper towel Discard used paper towel into paper towel compost bucket. View the hand washing presentation for complete details.

After Gearing Up l l l DO NOT touch any part of your head, face, neck, or personal belongings. Avoid any sources of contamination on the way to your work station. If your hands or garments do become contaminated, wash and sanitize before handling food again.

Gearing Down l l l Rinse and remove or discard gloves and rinse hands Rinse apron or rainpants to remove debris Spray apron or rainpants with sanitizer Remove apron or rainpants and hang in the proper place. Remove hairnet and store in cubby Remove smock and hang up during break

Smocks l l l Smocks are to prevent contamination of the food from workers’ clothing. If they get too wet or dirty during work, go switch for a clean, dry one and carry on. Deposit dirty smocks in the laundry hamper at the end of the shift. Do not store things in the pockets during work; pockets should be kept empty. Please DO NOT put stickers on the smocks. They will wreck the fabric.

Smocks, cont. l l l Smocks are colour coded for different work areas. (list here) Change smocks before switching areas. Remove smocks before taking breaks or using the toilet.

Aprons l l The aprons provided are lightweight, easily cleaned, and reasonably durable. Aprons do wear out over time; so when they tear or get holes in them, discard and get a new one. No foul language can be written on aprons. Please do not put stickers on the aprons.

Aprons, cont. l l l They need to be cleaned thoroughly after each shift to remove anything that could contaminate food during the next use. This can be done reasonably well by using a scrub brush at the wash pit sink while you’re still wearing the apron, spray to rinse and spray to sanitize. Rinsing and sanitizing aprons at breaks is required to reduce contamination in the facility.

Aprons, cont. l l Aprons are colour coded as well (list here) Aprons always stay in their area Packers can hang yellow aprons on hooks in the area during breaks. All other yellow aprons get rinsed and hung on the racks in the boot room during breaks.

Aprons, cont. l l If you need to leave the high care area for short moments, like to ask a question in the office, the apron can be left on but spray the apron upon re-entry to sanitize before returning to the work station. This is a bit cumbersome so keep trips out to a minimum.

Hairnets l l l Hair has bacteria on it and could become a source of contamination Hairnets are worn to prevent hairs from falling into the food or onto surfaces in the facility All hair has to be inside the hairnet. If hats are worn, they must be covered by the hairnet Everyone who has hair needs to wear a hairnet while in the washing and packing area. Hairnets are stored in cubbies during breaks.

Gloves l l Gloves are worn to protect skin from the sanitizer in the dipping buckets or other potential hazards in the facility. They DO NOT serve as a replacement for hand washing. Disposable gloves are meant for work that requires high dexterity or sense of touch like packing or culling product. The disposable gloves need to be replaced after each break and also when they tear or get holes in them.

Gloves, cont. l l l Re-usable gloves should be worn for tougher work such as scrubbing equipment or making boxes to provide more protection for the worker’s hands. Disposable gloves should be removed for box folding and replaced before returning to product handling (packers do this). Box folding for longer periods outside the high care areas can be helped by using specialty gloves that management provides (please ask).

Glove Dips l l l Gloves need to be sanitized after every chance of contamination before going back to handling food. Gloves can be contaminated by surfaces such as: sprout racks, cartons of packaging, hose nozzles, door handles, telephones, storage shelves, wash water in the wash pit, plastic curtains, work tables, quads, etc. Dipping is not required after handling the same product again and again, stacks of clean packaging on the packing table, clean packaging bags, or clean product crates.

Glove Dips cont. l l l Glove dips are filled with the sanitizer solution made from Oxonia Active and water. Glove dips are filled from sanitizer hose stations in various rooms of the building or from Hydrofoamers in the areas that do not have the hoses provided. Change glove dip water after every break and when the solution has too much debris.

Bathroom Facilities l l There is one toilet in a room near the front door. For prevention purposes, the entire toilet room should be considered contaminated. Therefore, no work gear is to be worn into the toilet room. Always wash hands after being in the toilet room.