United States
Hong KongEmployee health: the area candidates revise least and lose most on
Fourteen of the eighty questions, and the area candidates revise least. It covers employee health policy, handwashing, glove use, behaviors around eating and smoking, and where staff put their belongings.
Fourteen questions. Second only to contamination, and consistently the part experienced kitchen staff skip because they assume they know it.
They do not. Knowing that a sick employee should not work is not the standard being tested.
Exclusion and restriction are different words
This single distinction is the most examinable thing in the area, and the most commonly missed.
| Symptom or diagnosis | Action |
|---|---|
| Vomiting | Exclude from the establishment |
| Diarrhoea | Exclude from the establishment |
| Jaundice | Exclude, and report to the regulatory authority |
| Sore throat with fever | Restrict from food and food-contact surfaces |
| Infected wound that cannot be covered | Restrict |
| Diagnosed with one of the Big 6 | Exclude, and report |
Excluded means not in the establishment. Restricted means present, working, but away from food and food-contact surfaces. A restricted worker can wash dishes in some settings; an excluded one goes home.
The Big 6
Norovirus, Hepatitis A, Shigella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Salmonella Typhi, and non-typhoidal Salmonella. Six pathogens a food employee must report a diagnosis of to the person in charge.
Non-typhoidal Salmonella is the one added later, and older material still lists five. If your study source names five, it is out of date, and that is a useful test of the source generally.
The employee reports to the person in charge. The person in charge reports to the regulatory authority. A question that has the employee phoning the health department directly is describing the wrong chain.
Returning to work
Asymptomatic for 24 hours, or a written medical release. For jaundice and the reportable diagnoses, the regulatory authority is involved in the decision.
Handwashing, in the detail the exam wants
- 20 seconds in total, with 10 to 15 seconds of vigorous scrubbing.
- Water at 38°C (100°F) minimum at the handwashing sink.
- The handwashing sink is for hands. Not for rinsing produce, not for filling buckets, not for dumping the mop water.
- Hand antiseptic goes on after washing, never instead of it.
Wash after using the toilet, after handling raw animal food, after touching your face or hair, after taking out rubbish, after eating or smoking, and when moving between tasks. The exam frames these as scenarios rather than lists.
Belongings, eating, smoking, jewelry
Two questions on personal belongings and three on behaviors, which is five between them - more than the whole of pest control.
Personal items get stored away from food, equipment and single-use articles. Eating and smoking happen in designated areas. Jewelry on hands and arms comes off, with a plain ring band the usual exception. Hair is restrained. Fingernails are trimmed and unpolished unless gloves are worn.
If you learn one thing from this area, make it exclusion versus restriction. It is a clean binary, it appears in several questions, and almost nobody arrives already knowing it.
Common questions
What is the difference between exclusion and restriction?
Excluded means the employee may not be in the establishment at all. Restricted means they may work but not with food or food-contact surfaces. Vomiting, diarrhoea and jaundice exclude; sore throat with fever restricts.
What are the Big 6 illnesses?
Norovirus, Hepatitis A, Shigella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Salmonella Typhi and non-typhoidal Salmonella. A food employee diagnosed with any of them must report it to the person in charge.
How long should handwashing take?
20 seconds in total, with 10 to 15 seconds of vigorous scrubbing, using water at least 38°C (100°F). Hand antiseptic is applied after washing and is never a substitute for it.
When can an employee return after vomiting?
After 24 hours with no symptoms, or with a written medical release. Where the illness is one of the reportable diagnoses, the regulatory authority is part of the decision.
Can food workers wear jewelry?
A plain ring band is the usual exception. Other jewelry on hands and arms comes off, because it holds soil and can fall into food. Watches and bracelets are the ones people forget.