Failure to Perform Hand Hygiene During Food Service
Penalty
Summary
Dietary staff failed to perform proper hand hygiene during meal service, as observed on two separate occasions. On one occasion, a dietary staff member opened a box of rolls without gloves, reached into the box with bare hands, and handled the rolls without washing hands after touching the outside of the box. The staff member acknowledged during an interview that hand washing should have occurred after opening the box and before touching the food to prevent cross contamination. In another instance, the same staff member opened and closed the lids of hot plate warmer containers with bare hands, retrieved plates, and proceeded to the tray line to serve food without performing hand hygiene between these tasks. The facility's policy requires hand washing before food preparation and after handling soiled equipment or utensils, as well as as often as necessary to prevent cross contamination. The administrator and another dietary aide confirmed that the top of the plate warmer was considered dirty, and that staff hands would be considered contaminated after touching it, yet hand hygiene was not performed before returning to food service.