Food handler health and hygiene

Food businesses

You can download posters to display in your business with food safety tips for your employees:

• World Health Organisation -Five keys to safer food poster (various languages)
• Food safety (in various languages) (PDF, 1.29 MB).

Food businesses must:

• inform all food handlers of their health and hygiene obligations
• make sure any health-related information provided by a food handler is not told to anyone without the consent of the food handler
• take practical measures to make sure all people on premises:
  • do not contaminate food
  • do not have unnecessary contact with ready-to-eat food
  • do not spit, smoke, or use tobacco or similar preparations in areas where there is unprotected food or surfaces likely to come into contact with food
• maintain easily accessible hand washing facilities.

Food handlers

• Do whatever is reasonable to avoid unnecessary contact with ready-to-eat foods, such as salads or cooked meat.
• Take all practical measures to prevent contamination of food or surfaces that are likely to come into contact with food, by anything:
  • from their body e.g. hair, bodily secretions and fingernails, or
  • they are wearing e.g. clothes, jewellery, hair accessories, bandages.
• Wear clean outer clothing, appropriate for the type of work they do.
• Make sure bandages or dressings on any exposed parts of the body are covered with a waterproof covering.
• Do not eat over unprotected food or surfaces likely to come in contact with food.
• Do not sneeze, blow or cough over unprotected food or surfaces likely to come into contact with food.
• Do not spit, smoke or use tobacco or similar preparations where food is handled.

Hand washing

Food handlers are expected to wash their hands whenever their hands are likely to contaminate food. This includes washing their hands:

• immediately before working with ready-to-eat food or after handling raw food
• immediately after using the toilet
• before they start handling food or go back to handling food after other work
• immediately after smoking, coughing, sneezing, using a handkerchief or disposable tissue, eating, drinking or using tobacco or similar substances
• after touching their hair, scalp or a body opening.

Find out more about food handler health and hygiene on the Queensland Government website - food handler health and hygiene.