F0812

D

Failure to Use Gloves While Handling Food With a Bandaged Hand

Tempe, Arizona Survey Completed on 03-06-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves failure to follow food safety and infection control practices when a kitchen manager with a hand wound handled food without gloves. On March 4, 2026, during a test tray food temperature check in the conference room, surveyors observed Staff #65, the kitchen manager, with a bandage on her right hand that had a visible red spot on the outer part of the bandage. Despite this, Staff #65 did not wear gloves while performing the food temperature procedure and was involved in serving trays, including the test tray.

In an immediate interview, Staff #65 reported that the injury was a skin tear sustained earlier that morning when she struck her right hand on a shelf in the soiled utility room. She stated that a nurse had cleaned the wound and applied the bandage. Staff #65 acknowledged that she was not supposed to serve food with a bandage and bare hands and that the kitchen’s normal practice required wearing gloves when serving food if there was an open skin tear covered with a bandage. She confirmed that serving food with an open wound covered by a bandage without gloves could encourage cross-contamination and potentially spread infection. Facility policies on Infection Prevention and Control and Employee Sanitary Practices stated that staff with skin lesions were not permitted to have direct contact with residents or their food and that nutrition and food service employees were required to practice good personal hygiene and safe food-handling procedures.