Failure to Ensure Dietary Staff Wore Required Beard Restraint
Penalty
Summary
During an observation in the kitchen, a dietary aide was seen with a mustache and beard and was not wearing a beard mask while present in the kitchen and food storage areas. The dietary aide acknowledged forgetting to wear the beard mask that day. Both the dietary aide and the dietary service supervisor confirmed that hair could fall into food and cause contamination, and agreed on the importance of wearing a beard mask to prevent the spread of germs. Review of the facility's policy and procedures indicated that dietary staff are required to wear hair restraints, including beard restraints, to prevent hair from contacting food. This failure to follow policy had the potential to result in cross contamination and harmful bacterial growth for a large number of medically compromised residents who receive food from the kitchen.