Employee Health & Hygiene  - A Foundation for a Successful HACCP Program

Personnel Health and Hygiene policies are a foundation of a successful food safety and quality assurance program. Whether you operate a food storage and distribution facility, or a transportation company, employees are one of the most significant control points for bacterial contamination.

Comprehensive personnel health and hygiene programs coupled with a management-down attitude should be part of any food industry corporate policy. The management-down approach ensures hygiene policies and procedures are followed by all personnel including management, visitors, contractors, sanitation and maintenance staff, reducing the possible risk of product contamination.

Addressing personal hygiene issues can be difficult. In any given food operation there is a wide range of behaviors that can result in contamination. All staff must understand that anything or anyone that travels through a facility is a potential source of contamination and must be managed. Certainly people are the biggest “movers” in any operation and therefore a significant source of cross contamination. Bacteria can be transferred from the body, skin, mouth, hands or hair to the food or packaging. Contamination can also be transferred indirectly by their personal equipment such as clothing or footwear, or by tools used in their daily tasks such as floor scrubbers, hoses, forklifts, pallet jacks, stretch wrap and tape.

There are two important areas of focus when making personal hygiene policies. The first is protective clothing. Food businesses must provide employees with the ability to create a barrier between themselves and the product. This typically includes company-provided coveralls, coats/smocks, plastic aprons or hairnets and snoods, and gloves when appropriate.

Wash policies are the second area of focus. Policies should dictate all personnel in the food environment regularly and properly wash their hands to prevent microbial contamination of foods and food-contact surfaces. This applies to everyone that enters the facility. Prior to beginning their shift or entering into a food environment workers must wash with antibacterial soap and water and, when required, sanitize their hands. Hand washing policies must require employees wash after any type of activity that could cause contamination, including using the restroom, blowing their nose, and handling raw food, wastes or nonfood-contact surfaces. Employees should also wash before entering food handling areas and after changing clothing or gloves.

Training is essential to educate employees and reinforce good personal hygiene practices. There are many training aids available, such as manuals, posters, signage and videos for use in employee orientation and employee refresher training. Regardless of what training tools or formats you use, it is essential that the management-down approach apply to personal hygiene education, and that efforts are ongoing. This will ensure a high level of contamination prevention and control in the food environment.