Hand washing in Mobile and Temporary Businesses

This includes all food businesses, including temporary, mobile, food vehicles, coffee carts and when serving samples. Whether you are preparing, cooking, or serving you must have warm, running water for hand washing, liquid soap, and paper towel at all times.

Hand washing is the most effective way to prevent food poisoning.

When offering food and or drink samples you will need a hand wash basin set up – not just hand sanitiser.

Cutting corners when it comes to hand washing is an unacceptable risk to your customers and your business. 

If your business attends markets or events, caters functions off-site or has a mobile food vehicle, your set-up should always encourages food safety and good staff hygiene.

When Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) attend events and markets they have found food handlers preparing or serving foods without the hand washing station set-up.

Similarly, not having enough water to properly wash hands is another failing we see and shows the low importance placed on hand washing by some businesses.

Poor hand washing or an inadequate hand washing station is a food safety risk and a serious breach of the Food Standards Code.

The following are examples of poor hand wash set up seen by Environmental Health Officers when they attend events or markets, they will be noted on your FoodTrader account, and are serious breaches that can lead to Food Act Orders/Penalty Infringement Notices (fines) being issued:

• preparing or serving food with no hand wash set up,
• limited water with no access to more water, 
• no soap or paper towel available,
• tea towels used for drying hands,
• no way to dispose of the collected water – need to be empty into the sewer, not just dump on the ground ‘to water the grass’,
• No hand wash set up when serving food samples.

All food businesses, including temporary or mobile, must have warm, running water for hand washing, plus liquid soap and paper towel. Staff need to wash their hands frequently, including before putting on fresh gloves. 

The Barwon South Western Region Councils Temporary Food Premises Guidelines includes how to setup temporary food stall including hand washing facilities.