The 411 On Cold, Flu, & Food Borne Illnesses In Your Restaurant

December 28, 2018

Cold and flu season is officially here, and it isn’t going anywhere for several weeks at least. In fact, according to the CDC, the highest flu activity peaks between December and February, while the activity can last as late as May. In the restaurant industry, it’s imperative that all employees understand the importance of healthy habits, but also to know when to go home and keep their germs to themselves. Fast Fix LLC has a few tips to keep in mind as you navigate the cold and flu season.

Provide a Hand Washing Refresher Course

If your employees have dirty and unwashed hands, they are spreading those germs to the food and drinks that they touch. What’s worse, these germs can also multiply in certain foods or drinks under favorable conditions – which then makes other people sick. Make sure that your employees know the value and practice of washing their hands. Proper hand washing requires scrubbing, rinsing, and complete drying of hands. It takes just 20 seconds to demonstrate the proper technique for hand washing, and those seconds are invaluable when you consider how it could affect the health of your employees and your customer's satisfaction.

Remind Managers of Their Responsibility

All managers must realize the importance of not only knowing the signs and symptoms of illness, but enforcing them It can be uncomfortable to ask an employee about their symptoms, but it is not against HIPAA or ADA for your managers to ask about illnesses or symptoms. These are the symptoms that you should be most concerned about:

Vomiting
Diarrhea
Jaundice (yellow skin or eyes)
A sore throat with fever
Infected cuts and burns on hands or wrists

Report Sick Employees Immediately

If one of your food handlers experiences vomiting or diarrhea at work, it’s imperative that they stop working immediately, reports their symptoms to management, and goes home. They should not return back to work for at least 24 hours after those symptoms have ended. If the symptoms occur before the employee returns to work, then they should notify the manager and not report to work.

If one of your food handlers has a sore throat with fever, report the illness to the manager, and if possible, continue working – but remain aware that the manager should reassign the employee to a position that does not include the handling of food, food contact equipment, utensils or single-service articles.

Encourage Your Employees to Report Symptoms

It is critical that your team builds a culture where they feel comfortable enough reporting foodborne illness symptoms to your management. This could include frequent conversations where management and employees discuss how to report the symptoms. It could also include the placement of posters in prominent places to remind employees of their responsibility to report illnesses.

Fast Fix LLC

If you take care of sick employees, Fast Fix LLC will take care of sick appliances. We provide the best restaurant equipment maintenance in Mid-Missouri. Our skilled technicians cover areas around St. Louis, Columbia, Jefferson City, and the Lake of the Ozarks, as well as Western Illinois. Visit our website to learn more about our restaurant equipment services in Missouri, the equipment that we maintain, and even our maintenance agreements. Our team is here to keep your kitchen running smoothly so that you can keep up with your team.