gloves1 (E. coli) oshapre.tripod.com (Federal Preemption) oshafda.tripod.com (RTE Exemptions) glovesmelt.tripod.com (Liability) usfelony.tripod.com (Jurisdiction) gloves2 (City Code) gloves3 (City Code) gloves4 (Company Policy) gloves5 (Company Policy)
OSHA preemption and jurisdiction over food contamination: (www.osha.gov) OSHA 1910.141(h): Employees of the food service establishment eat food handled [must use sound hygienic principles] in the food service establishment. OSHA 5(a)(1): [recognized hazards] Food contamination. OSHA 5(a)(1): [serious physical harm] Employee illness from food contamination. OSHA hazard A: Prohibiting clean bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods [not a sound hygienic principle] is an OSHA violation (minimize clean bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods [a sound hygienic principle]). OSHA hazard B: Wearing gloves for food service establishment food handling [not a sound hygienic principle] is an OSHA violation (exception for bandages). OSHA hazard A evidence: (www.usda.gov) The Committee concludes that minimizing bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food provides an additional means, of interrupting disease transmission, when used in combination with the exclusion/restriction of ill foodworkers and proper handwashing. However, most members of the Committee deemed the available scientific data insufficient to support a blanket prohibition of bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods. OSHA hazard A evidence: (www.fda.gov) The ready-to-eat foods that will be contacted with bare hands are identified and both procedures and practices are in place so that food employees wash their hands before returning to their work station and cross-contamination from touching raw and ready-to-eat food is precluded. OSHA hazard A evidence: (www.state.ia.us) In seeking to minimize employee’s physical contact with ready-to-eat foods, no single method or device is universally practical or necessarily the most effective method to prevent the transmission of pathogenic organisms in all situations. OSHA hazards A and B evidence: (www.restaurant.org) There appears to be no evidence that mandated glove use has reduced the transmission of foodborne illness or lowered the number of foodborne illnesses in New York State, which implemented a mandatory foodservice worker glove law in 1992 [New York, 1992]. Generally, New York State is reported to have the same level of over all foodborne illness rates or higher than those of its neighboring states. In fact for some hand transmitted illnesses, such as Hepatitis A, New York State has a slightly higher incidence rate than some neighboring states [CDC, 2000]. There are many compounding factors regarding state epidemiological data; however, there is no epidemiological evidence that the enactment of a mandatory glove law has lowered the rates of foodborne illnesses in New York. OSHA hazard B evidence: (www.healthyarkansas.com) Glove usage has not been proven to lower the incidence of food borne illnesses. OSHA hazard B evidence: (www.hygenius.com) The HyGenius A.O.P is a generally accepted alternative to mandatory glove use in foodservice under FDA and State Food Codes. OSHA hazard B evidence: (www.gftc.ca) Bare hands that are washed hourly and sanitized was the best regime for a foodhandler to use, according to a U.S. study. [#10 Gloves=5.60 #8 Bare hands=0.80 contamination] OSHA 5(a)(1): Plastic gloves are prohibited if job duties include working with equipment hot enough to cause burns, because the plastic could melt into a burn, possibly making the burn worse. OSHA hazard evidence: In April 2001, I called the Director of the Independence Missouri Health Department and talked about gloves. He said never wear plastic gloves when working with cooking equipment because it is a safety violation (He used the example of a grill to explain that the plastic could melt into a burn). OSHA hazard evidence: (www.dupagehealth.org) Employees must wear gloves only if a safety hazard is not created. Gloves should not be worn by employees using mechanical equipment, or while working at a hot grill or carrying hot containers. OSHA hazard evidence: Burns occur at about 125F and above. Plastic gloves melt at about 165F and above.