What does your pot and pan sink have in common with the handwashing station? Nothing you say? Well, let’s look at the function of each.

The manual warewashing area is there to return used “wares”, your food contact surfaces to a safe-and-ready state. Processing at this station includes removal of gross soil. Your wares are then cleaned in hot detergent solution using scrub pads and brushes, rinsed under large volumes of potable water, and chemically sanitized. The final step is a complete drip/air dry before the trip back into storage. This is a straightforward process we monitor regularly, take corrective action as needed, and repeat hundreds of time each day. Standards are high for the cleanliness of our wares.

Now lets look at your handwashing station and consider hands and fingertips as food contact surfaces. The outcomes of activity at your handwashing station must be as effective as your warewashing process, maybe more so if you consider that feces and other bodily fluids are part of what you may be removing from hands and fingertips. Let’s consider a pair of hands used to process a 15-pound batch of meatball mixture (no gloves used, raw ground meat, spices . . . ) now at the hand sink and in need of processing, just as the pan that held the beef mixture is at the pot sink.

Getting Started
Turn the warm water on via foot peddles, wet hands, add soap, and lather through agitation. Good so far? Agitate and rub hands together to loosen gross soil. Still good? Rinse under running water to flood hands and force the soils away and down the drain. Visually inspect for noticeable soil and if none is observed, shake hands of excess water, dry with a disposable paper towel, toss towel in the trash can, and head back to your station for more food handling.

So, what do you think of the process described? Is it correct? Is it as comprehensive as the process used on the pan that holds the ground meat?

Let’s review the process for handwashing just described and consider how it might be improved.

I think we can agree that a pair of hands covered with raw ground beef mixture is potentially contaminated. Even after removal of visible gross soil with a paper towel before handwashing, the hands need as much attention as the pan at the pot sink. In the case of hands, what you cannot see, but need to remove, is what can cause problems via cross-contamination.

Wet hands, add soap, lather, add soap to the nail brush, use brush on fingertips and hands, rinse hands, and repeat the process without the nailbrush.

This is like warewashing your pots and pans where you clean via scrubbing, rinsing, and sanitizing. Using a double wash method makes sense. By first washing with the brush and then washing again without using the brush, it increases the probability that biological contaminants are reduced to a safe level. It’s important to include the mechanical action to dislodge contaminants, just as is done at the pot sink or even scrubbing the floor.

Handwashing is a critical part of an effective HACCP-based food safety program. How hands are washed, the techniques used, and the tools supplied for your staff to use are part of an effective program. Pots, pans, and hands must be cleaned and sanitized—consistently, efficiently and effectively to maintain control.

Next time some thoughts on disposable glove use and hand sanitizers.

Norm Faiola, Ph.D., is associate dean and associate professor, Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management, Syracuse University. Email Dr. Faiola with questions or comments: nafaiola@syr.edu.