Failure to Ensure Proper Dishwashing Sanitation and Monitoring
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to ensure proper sanitation of dishware and cooking utensils in accordance with professional standards and its own warewashing policy. Surveyors observed a low-temperature dishwasher being stopped mid-cycle by a dietary aide, with visible suds in the reservoir and a gauge reading around 140°F. The facility’s warewashing policy required dishware to be washed in a three-sink unit with sanitizer or disposable dishware to be used if the dish machine was not working or not meeting regulatory requirements, and required daily checks and documentation of sanitizer test strip results. The warewashing log for the dishmachine showed entries marked through one date with a note that hot water was being installed, and no documentation of testing or results for several subsequent days, despite the Director of Nursing identifying that 81 residents received nutrition from the kitchen. Staff interviews revealed that hot water had been an issue and a new hot water tank was being installed, during which time staff reported washing dishes in tubs, heating water on the stove for pots, pans, and utensils, and using paper plates and containers for resident meals. The dietary manager and cook stated they were using three plastic tubs and sanitizer but did not know they needed to check or document water or sanitizer temperatures in the tubs. One dietary aide stated they only checked that the dishwasher gauge was between two green lines, knew test strips existed but did not know their location, and did not usually worry about testing or documentation, instead relying on the presence of suds to judge water temperature. Another dietary aide reported not being shown how to check water temperature or use test strips and had been trained only by another staff member. The administrator acknowledged being unsure whether staff were completing dish machine testing due to lack of documentation, and the dietary manager later confirmed that temperature and sanitizer checks and documentation had not been completed for several days, attributing this to miscommunication among staff.
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