Let’s face it, bad hygiene causes harm. Examples such as the food poisoning outbreak at Central Coast hotel in 2022 [1], the 2015 Schools Conference at the Brisbane Exhibition Centre or the mass salmonella poisoning by catering company Piccalilli Catering at the Brisbane Melbourne Cup in 2013 [2].

These occurrences are catastrophic for any plant or company involved; it could be said that proper hygiene practices would have reduced the risks of these outbreaks occurring. As such proper hygiene practices are critical for any plant or kitchen involved with food processing and preparation. Every care should be taken to ensure correct processes, procedures and equipment are used.

This post is focusing specifically on hand hygiene. The medical profession has perfected hygiene standards, what can the food processing industry learn from these standards to better improve operating practices?

Procedures:

“When” and “How” are two important questions to ask to clarify the times and methods to employ. Currently most plants and kitchens should follow the standards specified by Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Below summarises the minimum expectation of when to wash hands. [3]

When to wash

1. Before commencing food handling and during various stages of food preparation, for example switching from handling raw meat to working with cooked food.
2. Before donning and after doffing certified food-safe disposable gloves. Ensure your hands are thoroughly cleaned and dried.
3. After taking comfort breaks, such as eating lunch or using the toilet facilities, it is vital to wash your hands and use sanitiser to prevent contamination with faecal bacteria.
4. After respiratory behaviours such as coughing or sneezing, in addition to touching any area of your face or head, such as using a tissue to blow your nose.
5. After cleaning activities, such as handling food waste or cleaning chemicals.

Procedures might differ slightly between industries. Below is the surgical scrub method, this can be seen as the gold standard and is the best solution to minimise risk of breakout or contamination due to the extra steps it takes over standard food handling processes.

Hand wash procedure: (Surgical scrub procedure) ^[4]

The specific steps that differ from standard food handling processes have been highlighted in red.

• Scrub each side of each finger, between the fingers, and the back and front of the hand for 2 minutes. (For non-surgical hand washing a scrub time of 20 seconds is sufficient)
• Proceed to scrub the arms, always keeping the hand higher than the arm. This helps to avoid recontamination of the hands by water from the elbows and prevents bacteria-laden soap and water from contaminating the hands.
• Wash each side of the arm from wrist to the elbow for 1 minute.
• Repeat the process on the other hand and arm, always keeping hands above elbows.
• Rinse hands and arms by passing them through the water in one direction only, from fingertips to elbow. Do not move the arm back and forth through the water.

Products:

Following the correct procedures is easy with the appropriate products. Building a culture of hygiene is essential within an organisation as complacent attitudes can cause significant risk. Providing adequate tooling affirms your commitment to hygiene and fosters an attitude of compliance from all employees.

The biggest features in hand hygiene are the wash basin and tap. If these items do not contribute to ease of use, improper washing is sure to ensue.

The MEFE Hand-to-Elbow wash basin has an extra wide basin. This offers space to wash up to elbows as required using the surgical scrub procedure. High construction quality also eliminates any noticeable weld joints, the entire basin is smooth and made of high quality stainless steel. This is critical to remove the chance for bacteria to take hold and grow.

With a sensor tap the handwash basin ensures hands-free operation, this removes the need to touch and potentially re-contaminate. This is also an easier operation than knee operated basins.

An optional automatic soap dispenser can also be added, making it a completely touchless process ensuring the highest hygienic outcome. This also offers the best in ease of use for employees.

All equipment should be:

• Easily accessible
• A permanent fixture
• Of a size that allows easy and effective hand washing (example)
• Have a supply of running water.
• Have adequate medicated soap.
• Designated for the sole purpose of hand, arm washing.

Efficiency impacts:

A few factors to consider.

• Length of wash has a high impact on hygiene.
• Type of soap has less of an impact than length of wash
• Water temperature during washing has no real impact on skin hygiene unless it is too hot (>48°C) in which case it has a negative impact as it removes the protective fatty acids from the skin.
• Vigorous scrubbing: No hygienic improvement
• Brushing: Discouraged by most studies as it could cause skin tearing with even more exposure to harmful bacteria

In this article we focused mostly on hand hygiene and what easy changes can be made to increase a processing plant or kitchens hygiene standards.

References