LESSON 2: OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HYGIENE

Introduction

A professional food worker is expected to maintain a high standard of personal and

occupational hygiene. Taking a bath, brushing of teeth and trimming of fingernails on daily basis
are referred to as personal hygiene. The professional food worker takes good care of himself by
ensuring good cleaning and washing practices. Occupational Health and Safety, on the other
hand, are practices done to maintain a clean work environment. This includes wearing of
protective equipment, frequent washing of hands between work processes, regular sanitation of
kitchen premises and continuous hygienic kitchen practices.
This lesson focuses on the essential knowledge in Occupational Health and Safety done
before and during food preparation. These required knowledge must be perform before one can
set-up the workstation.

Personal Protective Equipment

Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) are specialized equipment worn by the employees to
protect themselves from health and safety hazards while working. PPEs in cake making
includes, but not limited to, the following:

1. Hat used to restrict the hair from falling. This could be chefs hat, bakers hat, beret or
ball cap.

2. Hairnet worn to keep hair contained

3. Jacket thick white cotton cloth, mostly double-breasted and layered. This is to protect
from splattering of boiling liquid, and from heat of stove and oven. Some jackets are
reversible, to hide any spills.

4. Apron gives legs special protection against spills.The color can be white, black or any
color with the companys logo on it.

5. Pants/Trouser protects legs from spills and splashes. It can be white, black, or black-
and-white striped.

6. Shoes used to protect the feet if something hot spills or something sharp dropped

7. Mask worn to prevent the saliva from contaminating the food

8. Gloves worn to protect food from contamination when hands have burns, cuts or
infection. It can never be a replacement for washing hands.

Handwashing Technique
 Handwashing is the single most important procedure for preventing the spread of biological
contamination to the food being prepared. Here are some handwashing procedures for your
use:

Procedure:

1. Always consider the faucet, sink and its surrounding contaminated when starting the
hand washing procedure.

2. You must avoid touching the sink. Use the hand-washing sink, not the food preparation
sink.

3. Turn the water on and wet your hands, wrists, and arms.

4. Pour enough liquid soap on your palm then work until later or mass of bubbles are
produced.

5. Vigorously rub together all surfaces of the lathered hands and arms for 15 seconds.
Friction helps remove dirt and microorganisms. Wash around and under rings, around
cuticles, and under fingernails.

6. Rinse hands thoroughly under a stream of water. Running water carries away dirt and
debris. Point the fingers down so that water won't drip toward elbows.

7. Use side of your arms or knuckles to turn off the faucet, avoiding touching any
contaminated area.

8. Dry hands completely with a clean dry paper towel.

It is also important that you know when to wash your hands. Here is a list of times when
washing hands is essential:

On arrival at work, before you get started.

After you've been to the toilet.

After handling garbage or garbage containers.

After handling raw foods, before handling cooked foods.

After you've covered your mouth or nose to sneeze or cough.

After you've blown your nose.

After touching or scratching your head or other parts of your body.

Before resuming work after a break or a change of work area.

After you've had a cigarette.

After handling money.

Bear in mind that hand-washing is not only done in the circumstances listed above, but also
when you have made any surface contact before and during food preparation.

Hygienic Practices

Aside from frequently handwashing, there are also numerous ways to reduce the spread of
harmful germs. Hygienic practices refer to the ways carried out by any food professional to
provide safe and quality food to their customer.
 Listed below are the hygienic practices one should follow:

Always wash your hands before preparing food.

Avoid wearing jewelry, watch, or perfume.

Make sure that your nails are short, clean, and without nail polish.

Wear clean clothing.

Do not wear the uniform while travelling to and from work change it upon arrival and
out of it before you leave.

Dont brush or comb your hair when you are near food.

Do not smoke in the food areas.

Keep your fingers away from your face, mouth, hair, and skin and other parts of the
body.

Do not come to work if you have a cold or are feeling unwell - you may transmit bacteria
to the food and put the health of others at risk.

Safety Measures in the Kitchen

Cooking is fun, but kitchen safety is a priority. Think about it: Knives! Fire! Bacteria! Observing
basic rules of kitchen safety is a good habit to develop. Always pay attention to what youre
doing in the kitchen because one slip can cause serious injury or accidents.

Store knives in a wooden block or in a drawer.

Never cook in loose clothes and keep long hair tied back. You dont want anything
accidentally catching fire. (Not to mention hair ending up in the food!)

Never cook while wearing dangling jewelry. A bracelet can get tangled around pot
handles.

Keep potholders nearby and use them. Be careful not to leave them near an open
flame.

Turn pot handles away from the front of the stove. With this, children cant grab
them, and adults cant bump into them if theyre out of the way.

Dont let temperature-sensitive foods sit out in the kitchen. Raw meat, fish, and
certain dairy products can spoil quickly, so refrigerate or freeze them right away.

Wipe up spills immediately. Keep the floor dry so that no one slips and falls.

Separate raw meat and poultry from other items whenever you use or store
them. This precaution avoids cross-contamination of harmful bacteria from one food to
another.

Wash your hands before handling food and after handling meat or poultry. Hands
can be a virtual freight train of bacteria.

Occupational Health and Safety Indicator and Standard

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) also known as Occupational Safety and Health
is a cross-disciplinary area that mainly concerns the safety, health and welfare of the people
engaged in work or employment. The main goal of this program is to promote safe work
environment. As a secondary effect, it protects co-workers, family members, employers,
customers, suppliers and nearby communities.
 OHS Indicator

To promote the safety, health and welfare of the people, it is standard in a workplace to
hang safety signs that indicate preventive measures needed. Safety sign refers to the sign or
symbol in the workplace indicating various hazards ahead.

Colors of the safety sign defined:

Red color represents immediate hazardous situations that will cause death or serious
injuries.

Orange color indicates potentially unsafe situation.

Yellow color is used against unsafe practices that, if not avoided, may result in minor
injuries.

Green color represents emergency egress location.

Blue color conveys safety information.

Philippine OHS Standard

OHS Standard is the mandatory standard and rules enforced by the government to
reduce or eliminate any occupational hazard in the workplace.

This standard is mandated by law and enforced by the Secretary of Labor and
Employment through the Regional Director. The duties of employers and employees are as
follows:

Administrative policies on safety must be adopted in accordance with the provision of the
standards;

Policies and safety organization established must be reported to the Regional Director;

Safety performance must be submitted every 3 months to the Regional Director; and

Recommended safety measures or procedures must be performed or acted upon.

Employees, on the other hand, are expected to perform duties, as follows:

Comply with the safety policies;

Enact as the member of Health and Safety;

Unsafe practices and conditions must be reported to the Safety Committee; and

Assist government agencies to conduct safety and health inspection.