Running a food business
Staff training, illness and hygiene
Staff training
You must be able to show that your staff have the right skills and up-to-date training for their role.
Keep a record of any training staff have completed so you can show this during an inspection.
Skills can be learned through:
- courses provided or recommended by your local authority
- training on the job
- self-study
- relevant previous experience
Food handlers do not have to hold a food hygiene certificate. If you want one, ask your local authority for information.
Staff must be trained to manage allergies.
The Food Standards Agency provides free root cause analysis training to help staff understand the cause of food safety incidents and prevent them.
This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).
Personal hygiene
You must make sure staff wear suitable, clean, protective clothing.
When preparing or handling food, staff should:
- keep hair tied back and wear a suitable head covering such as a hat or hair net
- not wear watches or jewellery, except a plain wedding band
- not touch their face or hair
- not smoke, spit, sneeze, eat or chew gum
Make a plan to ensure personal hygiene using the ‘Safer food, better business’ (SFBB) guidance or the ‘Safe catering’ standards, if you’re in Northern Ireland.
Handwashing
Washing your hands properly helps prevent harmful bacteria from spreading. Anyone who works with food must wash their hands:
- before preparing food
- after touching raw food
- after handling food waste or emptying a bin
- after cleaning
- after blowing their nose or touching their face or hair
- after touching phones, light switches, door handles and cash registers
- after going to the toilet
Staff illness
Staff must tell their manager if they are not feeling well.
They must not handle food or enter the food handling area if they have any of the following:
- diarrhoea
- vomiting
- infected wounds or sores
- stomach pain, nausea, fever, or jaundice
- infected skin, nose or throat
- any other disease likely to be transmitted through food
Staff must also tell their manager if anyone they live with has diarrhoea or vomiting. They must avoid handling food if there’s any chance they’re carrying an illness.
Learn about your legal responsibility to keep staff safe from infection.
When your staff are ill
If you find out people have worked while ill, clean effectively to stop the illness spreading. Pay close attention to the areas they have come into contact with.
Most staff will be entitled to statutory sick pay. If you penalise staff for being ill, they might work while sick and this could lead to food safety problems.
Returning to work
After illness, you could use a fitness to work questionnaire to check if it’s safe for staff to return to work.
Staff with diarrhoea or vomiting must not return to work until they have had no symptoms for 48 hours.
Check the UK Health Security Agency’s guidance on managing gastrointestinal infections.