Hygiene and Sanitation at the Workplace

1Hygiene and sanitation: two different ideas

Hygiene means the practices that keep people and their surroundings clean in order to protect health: washing hands, wearing clean clothes, cleaning surfaces, covering food.

Sanitation means the facilities and services that keep human waste and other waste away from people. The World Health Organization uses the word mainly for the safe disposal of urine and faeces, and also for services such as refuse collection and the removal of dirty water. A full sanitation system has four parts:

A simple way to remember the difference: hygiene is what people do; sanitation is what a place has. A workplace needs both. Clean hands are of little use if there is no water point, and a new toilet block is of little use if no one washes their hands after using it.

2Why hygiene and sanitation matter at work

1. They protect customers. Germs from faeces, dirty water and unwashed hands cause diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid. In a workplace, one source of germs can reach many plates.
2. They protect workers. Clean, dry, tidy floors prevent slips; covered bins and drains keep rats and flies away; safe toilets and water protect staff health.
3. They protect the business. Customers return to a clean restaurant and avoid a dirty one. Less food spoils, so less money is wasted. Food businesses must also meet the hygiene rules of the public health authorities, and an inspector can close premises that break them.
4. They protect the environment. Wastewater and refuse that are managed properly do not pollute streams, wells and soil.
5. They pay for themselves. One rough international estimate is that every US$1 spent on sanitation returns about US$5.50 to society, mainly through less illness and fewer days lost from work and school.

3What a hygienic food workplace needs

• A supply of safe water, and a handwashing basin with soap used only for hands, close to where food is prepared.
• Toilets that are kept clean, have their own handwashing point, and do not open directly into the kitchen.
• Smooth, washable surfaces (tiles, stainless steel, painted walls) with no cracks where dirt and insects can hide.
• Covered drains, kept free of grease and food waste.
• Lidded bins, emptied at least daily, kept away from food.
• Good lighting, so dirt can be seen, and good ventilation, so steam and smoke can escape.
• Screens on windows, and doors that close, to keep out flies and animals.
• A separate, locked place for cleaning chemicals, and a place for workers to leave their bags, coats and phones outside the food area.

4Rules for food workers

• Fitness to work: a worker with diarrhoea, vomiting, fever or an infected cut must tell the supervisor and stay away from food until well.
• Uniform: a clean uniform is put on at work and not worn outside. The traditional cook's white jacket is chosen because white shows dirt at once; it is thick and double-breasted to protect the chest from splashes and burns. An apron and a hat or hairnet complete it.
• Habits: no eating, chewing gum or smoking in the food area; no phones on food surfaces; cough or sneeze into the elbow, away from food, then wash hands.
• Jewellery: rings, bracelets and watches are removed, because germs collect under them and they can fall into food.

Worked example: a hygiene check in a school canteen

Task: A school's health club checks the canteen against 10 items. The school's rule is that a score below 80% needs action within one week. The results are:

Step 1, the score: 7 passes out of 10 items. Score = 7 ÷ 10 × 100 = 70%. This is below 80%, so action is needed.

Step 2, the order of repairs: fix first the fault that most directly puts germs on food. No soap in the staff toilets (item 2) means germs from faeces can reach the food on workers' hands, so buy soap today. Next, the missing bin lid (item 5) and the torn screen (item 9), because both let flies reach the food.

Step 3, the new score: after all three repairs, the score is 10 ÷ 10 × 100 = 100%.

Practice

Try each question before reading the solution.