Failure to Enforce Hair Restraint Policy in Kitchen
Penalty
Summary
A deficiency occurred when a dietary aide was observed inside the facility's kitchen without wearing a hair restraint, in violation of the facility's own policy requiring hairnets to be worn at all times in the kitchen. The surveyor, upon entering the kitchen with the dietary supervisor, immediately noticed the aide sitting by the wall without a hair restraint. The supervisor then instructed the aide to put on a hair restraint, after which the aide briefly left the kitchen and returned wearing one. During an interview, the dietary supervisor acknowledged that the aide was not supposed to be in the kitchen without a hairnet, but allowed it because the aide reported being hot and having just wiped sweat from his brow, causing the hairnet to slip off. The facility's policy, dated 2021, clearly states that food and nutrition services employees must wear hair restraints at all times in the kitchen. No residents or their medical conditions were directly involved or mentioned in this deficiency.