A study of hand washing practices among the chefs of the registered restaurants in Pune Cantonment

• Main Author: SVashisht
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Makhdoomi Printers 2015-01-01
• Series: Global Journal of Medicine and Public Health
• Subjects: Hand Washing; Restaurants; Food Safety; Infection
• Online Access: http://gjmedph.com/uploads/O2-Vo4No5.pdf

Background An important aspect of food safety is hand hygiene that can decrease food borne infections manifold. With the boom in the Indian food-service industry, hand washing practices among chefs gain special significance. Objectives To estimate the knowledge, describe the hand washing practices of the chefs & observe the hand washing facilities. Methods A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among the chefs of registered restaurants in Pune Cantonment selected through multi stage random sampling. A pre tested and pre designed interviewer administered questionnaire was used for data collection which also included a checklist for the hand washing facilities. Results Among the 174 chefs, the mean age was 27.9 (+7.9) years. Of them 144 (82.8%) of the chefs considered hand washing important but only 66 (45.8%) were aware of the correct technique. The importance of hand washing and its proper technique was not the part of the training curriculum for 125 (71.8%) of the chefs. Soaps were used by 119 (68.4%) chefs for washing hands while 19 (10.9%) used plain water. Out of 87 restaurants, 26 (29.9%) had hand washing stations inside toilets and only 25 (28.7%) had hand washing stations in cooking areas. Interpretations & Conclusions Most of the respondents were aware of the necessary health aspects of hand washing but their practice was unsatisfactory. This needs to be redressed by regular & mandatory training, reinforcements in the form of posters, workshops etc. and implementing Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006 guidelines in letter and spirit.