Food handler fitness to work

What you need to know

The plain-English guidance that comes with this document.

• The 48-hour rule is the big one. A food handler who's had diarrhoea or vomiting must not handle food until they've been completely free of symptoms for 48 hours. This is the single most important food-illness rule, and it's non-negotiable — someone who feels "better" after a night's sickness can still shed bugs that cause an outbreak. Send them home, or move them to non-food duties, until the 48 hours are up.
• Make it safe — and normal — to report illness. Staff will only tell you they're ill if doing so doesn't cost them unfairly. Make reporting a stomach bug the expected thing, not a black mark, and think about how sick pay works so nobody's tempted to come in and handle food while ill. A culture of "soldier on" is a food safety risk.
• It's not just tummy bugs. Infected cuts and skin, and discharge from eyes, ears or nose, can also contaminate food. Cuts should be covered with a distinctive (usually blue) waterproof dressing so it's noticed if it comes off. Someone with an infected wound on their hands may need to be off food handling until it heals.
• New starters too. Check fitness to handle food before a new food handler starts — this form doubles as that first check, alongside their food hygiene training.
• This is health data — treat it right. What someone tells you about their health is sensitive personal data. Keep this form secure in their file, share it only with those who need to know, and don't leave it lying around the kitchen.
• Returning travellers. Someone back from a country where stomach bugs are common, or who's had contact with an infected person, may need extra care — ask, and if in doubt keep them off food handling until you're sure.
• Applies UK-wide. Fitness-to-work rules for food handlers apply across the UK. The FSA and Food Standards Scotland publish a fitness-to-work assessment you can use; this form follows the same approach.