Health and Hygiene
Hygiene is very important to anyone who works in a food establishment. How you handle food, crockery,
cutlery, glasses, surfaces, equipment or anything that comes into contact with food can affect the health of
your customers. A food handler has a legal responsibility to abide by the PNG Food Act 1991.
Your business depends on customers. If your business loses its reputation through having dirty premises
and staff, your customers will not come back.
Personal hygiene
The human body carries bacteria so as a food handler you must minimise the risk of contaminating food
by:
• Preventing your body or clothing from coming into contact with food or food
surfaces
• Where possible, protective clothing should only be worn in food handling areas (avoid wearing
uniforms to work and take off aprons when using the toilet)
• Wearing clean clothing daily and change when they become soiled
• Not eating over food or surfaces
• Not smoking or using tobacco in food preparation areas
• Not urinating or defecating anywhere except in a toilet
• Avoiding contact with ready-to-eat foods
• Not spitting, sneezing, coughing or blowing over food or surfaces
• Keeping open cuts or wounds covered with bandages and waterproof coverings
• Showering daily
• Watches, jewellery, etc should not be worn. If your rings cannot be taken off, a glove should be worn
• Keeping your locker free from dirty clothing or anything that may attract pest and vermin
• Tying long hair back
• Wearing hats where provided
• Keeping nails short, no nail polish and no artificial nails (If this cannot be avoided the food handler may
wear gloves and wash well under nails to avoid faeces being trapped.
Use of disposable gloves
You are not required to wear gloves when handling food. If you do, they should be thrown out after each
continuous task. They should also be removed when going to the toilet, eating, smoking, coughing,
sneezing and touching parts of your body. Using clean utensils when handling food is preferred as people
tend not change their gloves between uses.
Rules for hand washing
Food handlers need to wash their hands:
• After using the toilet
• After touching any part of their body
• Before handling any ready to eat food and raw food
• Entering or re-entering your work area
• After smoking, sneezing, coughing, using a tissue or handkerchief, drinking or eating
• After handling garbage
• After handling animals
• After doing any cleaning
• Whenever you are likely to contaminate food
• After handling money
How to wash your hands
• A food handler must wash their hands for at least 20 seconds in the hand washbasin provided (not in a
sink that is used for other purposes)
• Use soap and warm running water. The water temperature for warm water should be around 40°C,
below 22°C is too cold and above 48°C is too hot
• Dry hands on a single use towel (single use towels are found to be more effective than air dryers as they
remove more moisture, a combination of both is acceptable but air dryers should not be used on their
own)
• Do not just wet your fingertips- wash hands thoroughly in between fingers, fingernails and also your
wrists (remove jewellery)
Employees’ responsibilities
Employees should ensure that they do not contaminate food and follow all workplace hygiene procedures.
Following all workplace hygiene procedures as instructed;
Using hand wash basins correctly as provided;
Practicing good personal hygiene at work and before coming to work;
Wear correct and clean uniform;
Do not handle food directly with bare hands
Reporting all notifiable symptoms and illnesses and conditions to a Supervisor;
Reporting all food safety hazards.
Employers’ responsibilities
Employers should ensure that staff and other people do not contaminate food by:
Providing hand wash basins with warm running water, sanitising soap and paper
towel for hand washing
Not smoking or spitting in food areas or other areas where smoking is not permitted
Putting signs up that say no smoking
Restricting people that should not be in food preparation areas
Preventing people handling food if they are suffering a food- borne illness
Providing hand basins, soap, warm water and single use towels
Providing toilets
Having an area to store personal items
Having separate area for office equipment
Having separate area to store chemicals
Informing staff of their responsibilities in regard to health and hygiene
Ensuring that staff have the skills and knowledge to handle food in a safe manner so as not to
contaminate foo
