Does anyone know how many times per day food service workers (i.e., in a university dining hall) wash -- or are supposed to wash -- their hands? I have no idea, but I'm guessing it should be in addition to the 3 times they are expected to use restroom lavs. There are designated hand-wash sinks in each station. Thanks,
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Brent Ehrlich
Products and materials specialistBuildingGreen
LEEDuser Moderator
33 thumbs up
October 8, 2010 - 5:56 pm
Hi Erica,
As you can imagine, the amount of hand washing in a commercial kitchen is going to vary tremendously depending on size/type of kitchen, layout, food, being prepped, and specific area in which the sink is located. A hand sink in a salad station where employees use gloves, for example, probably won't see as much use as one in a station where bulk prep is done; there you might have to wash many times an hour as you go from beef to chicken to veg, fruit, etc. I’m not sure how you average the differences across a large facility without knowing more about it. But it is safe to say that kitchen hand sinks are going to be used far more often than three times a day...or at least they better be! In any case, using low-flow (1.0 gpm) fixtures or aerators in hand sinks will definitely reduce water and energy consumption. Hope this is helpful.
Erica Downs
LEED ConsultantThe Green Engineer
254 thumbs up
March 16, 2011 - 3:35 pm
Just to follow up, I found this standard Handwash Hygiene manual that lists all the activities that require handwashing for food service employees. The number It's still kind of arbitrary, I think, but maybe this will help. http://www.handwashingforlife.com/files/HOM_Section_4_emp.pdf