Importance of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the food industry

PPE for the food industry creates a fence between an employee's skin and the food that is being served to the customer. While taking proper precautions while handling or serving food, like washing hands in between the tasks is important, the staff should also use proper gloves to provide proper safety to clients as well as staff.

The person handling food needs to wear a specific type of PPE to prevent the spread of germs and any kind of contamination.

A personal protective kit also helps in avoiding any kind of accident in kitchens.

As an industry that can affect the health of a large number of people, it is important to use PPE kits in the food industry.

The Role of PPE Kits In The Food Industry

Protecting The Customer

While handling the food in any food service outlet the provider must make sure that proper safety measures are being followed, as any kind of negligence can result in legal actions and penalties. Proper PPE is important for both customers and the outlet. It is the responsibility of the business owner to ensure the safety of staff and the consumer.

Protecting The Food

Using proper safety measures such as the use of proper gloves and PPE kits prevents any kind of cross-contamination of food. Providing good quality PPE kits to the staff can save a lot of food spoilage. There are huge chances of food spoilage in this industry as raw material is purchased in bulk and needs proper protection from bacteria, parasites, dust or germs.

Contaminated food can become a cause of serious health issues and severe illness, making it a public health concern which can also harm the reputation of the food service provider.

Protecting The Staff

The staff of the food industry is exposed to a lot of heavy equipment and harmful chemicals such as disinfectants and other chemicals used in the processing of food put them at a lot of health risk.

Workers or staff that are directly responsible for handling food need to wear protective clothing, gloves, masks, etc.

Working areas for staff such as kitchens and restaurants also contain hazards for the workers, people who are working in these places can easily get injured while working, they can easily get injured by a knife or hot equipment. To avoid such situations staff should use the right PPE gloves, aprons, anti-slip shoes and slip-resistant floor to ensure the safety of the staff.

Types of PPE Used In The Food Industry

Every working area demands different kinds of PPE considering the kind that is being done, the nature of business and employees.

To determine the PPE need of the place, the employer should hire a professional surveyor to look for possible hazards in the working area.

Employees should be trained professionally to ensure they use the assigned PPE properly. Improper use of PPE can lead to safety hazards. Compromising the safety of workers as well as food.

Some of the most important personal protective equipment used in the food industry are as follows:-

Gloves

One of the most common reasons for food contamination is touching the food items with bare hands. It is the easiest way of transmitting bacteria and germs to food. Food industry employees should wear gloves at all times.

There are two important types of gloves- nitrile and vinyl. The nitrile gloves are more durable but more expensive than vinyl.

Face Shield/Face Masks

The use of face masks or face shields is important as it avoids inhaling any kind of germs and also protects the staff from any kind of harmful chemicals in the working area. It also prevents the breath of the staff from reaching the food directly, which can cause health problems. After covid, the face masks and face shields are used widely by everyone as they act as a protective between the staff and the food.

Earplugs And Earmuffs

Hearing protection is one of the major needs of not only the food industry but every industry, as exposure to excessive noise can cause hearing damage which can be irreparable. If the working area is exposed to constant loud noise the employees should not be allowed to work without hearing protection PPE for longer hours.

Hand Sanitizer

Use of hand sanitizer is not restricted to any particular area but one needs to use it with complete responsibility as most of the sanitizers are alcohol based which means they’re not supposed to be used in the kitchen as it can cause major fire hazards,

Conclusion

All in all, PPE kits and protective clothing are important in the food industry for hygiene and safety purposes. It ensures the safety of both staff and the customer.