ServSafe Manager · Hygiene and Health · 7 min read · Open lesson
Handwashing, Hand Antiseptics and Hand Care
- Execute the correct five-step handwashing procedure according to FDA Food Code standards, including time, temperature, and designated sink requirements.
- Identify mandatory operational triggers for handwashing and apply regulatory restrictions regarding the appropriate use of hand antiseptics.
- Apply active managerial control to maintain handwashing facilities, enforce personal hand care standards, manage infected wounds, and execute immediate corrective actions.
The Hazards of Hand Contamination and the Handwashing Procedure
Food handlers are primary vectors for transmitting foodborne illness within a commercial kitchen. Pathogens are frequently transferred when employees touch their hair, face, nose, ears, or an infected wound and subsequently handle food or food-contact surfaces. Furthermore, coughing or sneezing into the hands transfers saliva and respiratory droplets directly onto skin. Touching dirty aprons, soiled wiping cloths, or work clothing transfers pathogens directly to clean hands. In addition, food handlers can carry foodborne pathogens and infect others without showing any symptoms themselves. Cross-contamination also readily occurs when a worker touches raw meat, poultry, or seafood and then handles ready-to-eat food without washing their hands.
To prevent contamination, handwashing must only be conducted in designated handwashing sinks. Food handlers must never wash their hands in sinks used for food preparation, dishwashing, or mop water disposal. Under the FDA Food Code 2022, a handwashing sink must supply water at a temperature of at least 85°F (29°C) through a mixing valve or combination faucet. Because state and local codes may enforce different plumbing or temperature standards, managers must always verify applicable local rules.
The entire handwashing procedure must take at least 20 seconds from start to finish. The first step requires wetting hands and exposed arms with running warm water. In the second step, the food handler applies enough soap to build up a good lather over the hands and arms. The third step requires scrubbing hands and forearms vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds; during this step, staff must clean thoroughly under the fingernails and between the fingers. In the fourth step, hands and arms are rinsed thoroughly under clean, running warm water. Finally, dry hands and arms using an approved method: individual disposable towels, a continuous towel system that supplies a clean towel, a heated-air dryer, or a high-velocity air-knife dryer. When manual faucet handles are present, food handlers should use a paper towel to turn them off and to open restroom doors, preventing the immediate recontamination of clean hands.
Mandatory Operational Moments for Handwashing
Managers must train food handlers to recognize specific tasks that require immediate handwashing. Prior to starting work, food handlers must wash their hands immediately before beginning food preparation or food handling tasks, before putting on single-use gloves for working with food, and before handling clean tableware, utensils, and service equipment. Washing hands before donning gloves is critical because gloves can tear or puncture, and clean hands prevent transferring contamination to the glove exterior during donning.
Food handlers must wash hands after any activity that compromises cleanliness. Handwashing is required after using the restroom; coughing, sneezing, blowing the nose, or using a tissue; and touching the hair, face, skin, or clothing. Handwashing must occur after handling raw meat, poultry, seafood, or unpasteurized shell eggs, as well as when switching between working with raw animal foods and ready-to-eat foods. For example, a line cook who slices raw chicken breasts must wash their hands before assembling ready-to-eat deli sandwiches to prevent cross-contamination.
Service and maintenance activities also introduce contamination. Food handlers must wash their hands after taking out garbage or handling waste containers; clearing dirty tables, busing dirty dishes, or handling soiled service items; and handling chemicals, sanitizers, or maintenance supplies. Hands must be washed after touching service animals or aquatic animals, such as live molluscan shellfish in display tanks. Handwashing is also mandatory after eating, drinking, chewing gum, or using tobacco and nicotine products. During customer service, staff must wash hands after handling cash or credit cards. Furthermore, managers must train staff to wash their hands after using a cell phone, POS touchscreen, or other electronic device if the activity contaminates their hands, and before returning to food preparation. Food handlers must also wash their hands when returning to food preparation if their hands became contaminated while away.
Hand Antiseptics and Chemical Hygiene Guidelines
Hand antiseptics, commonly referred to as hand sanitizers, are chemical solutions designed to reduce pathogen populations on the skin. However, managers must enforce the strict rule that hand antiseptics must never be used as a substitute for washing hands. Antiseptics do not remove physical soil, grease, or debris from the hands and forearms. A topical hand antiseptic or hand dip does not replace handwashing and must be used only after hands have been washed as required by the Food Code; drying hands before application is not a universal Food Code requirement.
Applying a hand antiseptic to wet or unwashed hands can reduce its overall effectiveness. Soil barriers prevent the active chemical agents from contacting the skin, and excess moisture can dilute the product. When an antiseptic is applied, food handlers must allow the hand antiseptic to dry completely before touching food, equipment, or clean items.
Managers must verify that hand antiseptics meet applicable FDA Food Code requirements and follow the Code’s rinsing, glove-use, or no-bare-hand-food-contact restrictions when a product does not meet its incidental-food-contact criteria. Using unapproved retail sanitizers that do not meet these federal standards can introduce chemical contaminants into the food environment.
| Operational Factor | Proper Handwashing | Hand Antiseptic Application |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Purpose | Removes soil, grease, debris, and pathogens through mechanical scrubbing and rinsing | Reduces remaining pathogen populations through chemical action |
| When to Perform | Required before food prep, after contamination events, and when switching tasks | Optional supplemental step; a topical hand antiseptic or hand dip is used after required handwashing, but the Food Code does not universally require drying before application. |
| Regulatory Substitution | Mandatory; cannot be replaced by any other process or chemical | Prohibited; must never be used in place of proper handwashing |
| Prerequisites | Designated sink with warm running water at least 85°F (29°C), soap, and approved drying method | Hands washed as required by the Food Code; the product and its use must meet applicable FDA requirements, including restrictions when it does not meet criteria for incidental food contact. |
Hand Care Standards and Infected Wound Management
Proper hand hygiene extends beyond washing to encompass the condition of the fingernails and skin. Fingernails of food handlers must be kept trimmed, filed, and clean. Long or ragged fingernails can harbor dirt and pathogens that resist standard scrubbing, and they are prone to tearing single-use gloves during prep work. Food handlers are prohibited from wearing fingernail polish while handling exposed food unless they wear a clean, intact single-use glove. Similarly, food handlers may not wear artificial fingernails or nail extenders while working with exposed food unless they wear intact single-use gloves in good repair. Managers must also be aware that some state and local regulatory authorities ban artificial nails and nail polish entirely for food handlers, even when covered by gloves.
Infected wounds and cuts represent a severe biological contamination risk. Managers must establish clear policies ensuring that food handlers report any infected wound on the hand, finger, wrist, or arm. Before a food handler with an infected wound on the hand, finger, or wrist works with exposed food or clean items, the wound must be covered with an impermeable cover, such as a water-resistant bandage or finger cot, and then covered with a single-use glove. This double-layer barrier ensures that biological fluids and pathogens cannot leak into food or contact clean equipment.
The requirements for covering wounds depend on their anatomical location. Under the Food Code, an open or draining lesion containing pus on an exposed portion of the arm must be protected with an impermeable cover; managers should also require other cuts to be protected appropriately. Under the Food Code, an open or draining lesion containing pus on another part of the body must be covered with a dry, durable, tight-fitting bandage. If a food employee has an open or draining lesion containing pus that cannot be protected as the Food Code requires, the manager must restrict the employee from working with exposed food; clean equipment, utensils, and linens; and unwrapped single-service and single-use articles.
Active Managerial Control, Maintenance, and Corrective Actions
Active managerial control requires managers to establish, train, monitor, and enforce hand-hygiene standards continuously. Managers should establish written procedures for personal hygiene and hand care, train staff on these expectations, and consistently monitor employee compliance during daily operations. While the FDA Food Code does not universally require these specific procedures to be written down, setting clear operating standards provides an objective baseline for shift monitoring.
Managers must routinely inspect all designated handwashing sinks to ensure they remain fully accessible and completely supplied. Sinks must never be blocked by boxes, trash cans, or prep tables. Each handwashing sink must provide water at a temperature of at least 85°F (29°C) through a mixing valve or combination faucet, soap, and an approved drying method, which may include a continuous clean-towel system; where disposable towels are used, provide a waste receptacle at the sink or at a group of adjacent handwashing sinks. Additionally, every designated handwashing sink must display a visible sign or poster notifying food employees to wash their hands.
Managers must actively observe staff handwashing practices during high-volume prep and service periods. Training should emphasize that staff must wash their hands after using the restroom and again before handling food or clean items if their hands become contaminated; local rules should also be consulted for any additional requirements. If a manager observes a food handler touching ready-to-eat food without washing their hands when required, immediate corrective action must be taken. The manager must stop the activity, direct the employee to wash their hands immediately, discard the contaminated ready-to-eat food, and clean and sanitize any contaminated food-contact surfaces. Managers should document hand-hygiene corrective actions in the establishment’s monitoring records and retrain staff when noncompliance occurs, even though the Food Code does not universally require a specific handwashing-violation log.
Common mistakes
- Using hand antiseptics as a quick replacement for washing hands when pressed for time during service.
- Washing hands in a convenient food preparation sink, three-compartment dish sink, or mop sink instead of a designated handwashing sink.
- Covering an infected hand or wrist wound with only a water-resistant bandage, while forgetting the mandatory single-use glove over the cover.
- Failing to discard ready-to-eat food that was handled by an employee who neglected to wash their hands after a contamination event.
Summary
- Handwashing must take at least 20 seconds total at a designated handwashing sink supplied with water at a temperature of at least 85°F (29°C), soap, an approved drying method, and a visible employee handwashing reminder sign; provide a waste receptacle at the sink or group of adjacent sinks when disposable towels are used.
- The five-step handwashing procedure requires wetting hands and exposed arms, applying soap, scrubbing vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds (including under nails and between fingers), rinsing, and drying with an approved method, including disposable towels, a continuous clean-towel system, or an approved dryer.
- Staff must wash hands before preparing food, handling clean equipment, or putting on gloves, and after contamination events including using restrooms, coughing, touching raw animal foods, taking out trash, and touching phones or money.
- Hand antiseptics must never replace required handwashing; managers must ensure products are used according to applicable FDA Food Code requirements, including any restrictions on food contact, and have staff follow product directions before touching food or equipment.
- Fingernails must be trimmed, filed, and clean; polish and artificial nails require intact gloves while handling exposed food, though local codes may ban them entirely.
- An open or draining lesion containing pus requires an impermeable cover plus a single-use glove on a hand, finger, or wrist; an impermeable cover on an exposed arm; or a dry, durable, tight-fitting bandage elsewhere. If it cannot be protected as required, restrict the employee from exposed food, clean equipment, utensils, linens, and unwrapped single-service and single-use articles.
- Active managerial control involves daily sink monitoring, training, direct observation, discarding exposed ready-to-eat food handled with unwashed hands, and documenting corrective actions and retraining.
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