Hand Washing

Washing your hands properly is one of the easiest ways to help prevent the spread of food poisoning bacteria. Take care to wash your hands before and after handling food, as well as any other time your hands are likely to be a risk of spreading bacteria, for example: after handling money, using the toilet, sneezing, touching hair, handling garbage, or using cleaning equipment. Hand wash facilities are to be: • used only for hand washing – not as a slop sink for waste water or a sink for washing or storing dishes; • clear at all times – meaning no storage of boxes and/or cleaning equipment in front of the basin; • provided with soap and disposable paper towels (ideally from a dispenser) at all times – tea towels must not be used for cleaning or drying hands; • provided with a waste receptacle in close proximity for the disposal of used paper towels; • provided with a continuous supply of warm running water (e.g. from a mixer tap or single outlet); • of a size that allows easy and effective hand washing; and • located within areas where food handlers work, if their hands are likely to be a source of contamination of food. If you choose to use disposable gloves remember they are designed to protect food, not to protect hands. Therefore, gloves should be: • changed as often as you would normally wash your hands; and • used once only and then thrown away.