FSSAI COVID-19 Safety Guidelines Checklist for Food Businesses

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Business/Facility Name
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Responsibility of Food Business Owner /Manager

Food business owner/ Manager shall ensure that:
Apart from Good Hygiene Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices mentioned in Schedule 4 of FSS (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, food handlers/workers should be made aware about COVID-19 symptoms so that they are able to recognize the symptoms early and that they can seek appropriate medical care and testing, and to minimize the risk of infecting fellow workers. They should be provided with training on risk factors, safe food handling, social distancing, and other protective behaviors (e.g., cough etiquette and the wearing of face mask, handwashing with soap or using alcohol-based hand rubs) required amid COVID-l9 infections.
Employers should have a COVID 19 Screening Protocol in place to screen all personnel entering the premises. All employees/workers/visitors should be screened at entry point for symptoms of COVID-19 such as temperature (using non-contact type thermometer), cough, cold, etc. Those with temperature more than 37.5 °C (99 °F) and/or flu like symptoms shall not be allowed to enter Establishment.
Note: Some common symptoms of COVID-19 include:
• Fever (high temperature — 37.5 °C or 99 °F)
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Breathing difficulties
• Fatigue
Employees /food handlers/ visitors should be encouraged to self-declare and inform about any signs/symptoms of respiratory illness before or during work/visit to the premises. Such declaration is expected to be forthcoming with the assurance of assistance and pay/ job protection especially in the low-income group of employees. In some cases, infected people may be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic and may not display any signs or symptoms of disease or may present with mild symptoms that can be easily overlooked, the employers therefore should ensure the availability of masks and protective gears to all food handlers. In case the food handlers is COVID 19 infected or is identified as the contact of the COVID 19 infected person , he /she should be not be allowed to enter the premises and instructed to remain in home quarantine for the specified time period and should not return to work until they are free of infection.
Regular Monitoring of the employees/food handlers is essential for prevention of COVID19 spread within the food establishment. The employees/food handlers should also self-monitor and report any symptoms to the employer. Wearing mask and protective gears at all times should be ensured. The Employers must provision and issue these protective gears to his employees. The employee should maintain 1 metre of distance from each other and practice social distancing in the workplace.
Employer should be aware and sensitive of workers concerns about salary, leave, safety, health, and other issues that may arise during the outbreak.
A local emergency response team should be established in large food businesses to deal with suspected COVID-19 infections and one person should be designated as the COVID-19 co-ordinator. Their contact details should be shared with all employees. The team should develop protocols/guidelines on the steps to be taken when handling suspected COVID-19 cases and as a means of general preparedness, the following should be ensured: • List of local authorized hospitals for COVID-19 testing and treatment is frequently updated; • Contact details of the professional disinfection company arc kept handy; • Adequate disinfectant for emergency use are available; • Dedicated masks, gloves, safety glasses, protection suits for emergency use (personal protective equipment or PPE) are procured and stored as per government advisories, from time to time; • Isolation rooms (one for suspected cases, one for close contacts) are prepared with special trash bins; • A process for record keeping is established wherein all the related information -attendance, health status of employees, visitor details - are maintained. Process for record keeping shall be developed for suspected/ confirmed cases and should be recorded, including, but not limited to employee name, the whole process of the incident, conversations with local authorities, actions taken by the company.

Personal Hygiene of Food Handlers

Food Business shall ensure that high hygiene standards in line with established Food Safety Management System (FSMS) and these practices include:
• Proper hand hygiene - washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (follow WHO advice)
• Frequent use of alcohol-based band sanitizers;
• Good respiratory hygiene (covers mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing; dispose of tissues and wash hands)
• Frequent cleaning/disinfection of work surfaces and touchpoints such as door handles.
• Avoiding close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing
Proper hand hygiene protocols should be strictly followed. They shall thoroughly wash and sanitize hands and change into clean uniform before entering the food premise. Hands should be washed for 20 to 30 seconds using water (preferably hot water) and soap. Hands should be dried with clean towel or air dryers.
This should preferably be followed with sanitizing of hands (with 70% alcohol-based sanitizer or an equivalent). If soap and running water are not immediately available, provide alcohol-based hand rubs containing at least 60-70% alcohol.
Employees/ food handlers shall wear a face mask and clean protective clothing like full sleeves clothes/aprons, headgears, caps, gloves at all times while in the production area. In case of a shortage of face masks, the employees/ food handlers should preferably use clean cloth-based face covering or face mask to cover nose and mouth. The face cover should fit perfectly on the face without leaving any gaps on mouth, nose, and chin. The face covers should be changed every six hours or as soon as they get wet. Reusable face covers shall be cleaned and sanitized thoroughly. in case disposable face covers are used or reusable face cover is damaged or changes shape, it shall be disposed of in a closed bin. While removing face cover, care shall be taken not to touch the outer surface of the face cover. Employees shall avoid touching their faces, eyes, nose, etc. after the removal of face cover before washing their hands.
(Note: Staff should wash/disinfect hands after removing their regular clothes and before touching their clean uniforms to avoid contamination of clean clothes).
Employees shall preferably not use personal jewellery, watches etc. Instruments like mobiles should be discouraged while at work place or should be frequently sanitised.
Gloves shall be worn while handling prepared food or ready to eat food. During this time no other surface, equipment, utensils should be touched or no non-food related activities such as emptying bin, closing doors/windows, touching mobile phones, handling currency etc are carried out. In such a case, the gloves shall be changed and suitably disposed off. Hand must be washed between glove change and when gloves are removed. Wearing gloves may give a false sense of security and may result in staff not washing hands as frequently as required. Employees shall be trained on the correct method of using gloves and wearing gloves shall not be considered as a substitute for hand washing.
Respiratory hygiene is important to prevent COVID-19 spread at a workplace. Employees shall cover their mouth and nose with tissue while coughing or sneezing. The tissue shall be disposed in a closed bin and hands shall be thoroughly washed and sanitised, before handling food.
Reporting of illness: Encourage workcrs to stay home if thcy have developed any symptom of COVID-19 infection (dry cough, trouble in breathing, high fever and chills). He/she should be allowed to report illness on phone.
In cast any employee develops any flu-like symptoms or COVID-19 illness at the workplace, he/she shall be immediately isolated (should not be sent back to home) and the health / administrative authorities should be informed about it immediately.
Food handlers working with or near the infected person should also isolate themselves and if required should self-quarantine as per the directions issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
(Note: It is ideal that the isolated individual uses a separate toilet and washing area. If that is not possible, then toilet and washing area should be cleaned alter use by an infected person).
Use of fingerprint or biometric attendance shall be discontinued during the pandemic period in order to minimise cross infection through this common contact point and may be replaced with facial recognition or manual system ensuring minimal physical contact. Using each other's phones, belongings, sharing of common stationery like pens, or other work tools and equipment, should be discouraged.
The food premises, toilets, counters, and equipment that came in contact with the infected person should be thoroughly cleaned with hot water and detergent and disinfected (with 0.1% hypochlorite sol. or an equivalent).

Practice Social Distancing

Social distancing aims, through a variety of means, to minimise physical contact between individuals and thereby to reduce the possibility for new infections. A minimum distance of one meter shall be maintained between two persons at all points in a food establishment.
To implement social distancing, food businesses should:
• Limit the number of people in contact on a production floor or a kitchen or a shop , by creating physical barriers so that people in smaller spaces (3-4 employees in 10 ft areas as an example) can have barriers without hindering work, wherever possible.
• Space out/stagger workstations and food preparation areas, if possible. There should be I meter gap between food handlers.
• Reduce the speed of production lines to reduce the number of staff working on the production line and increase the gap between them.
• Review the shift arrangement and social interaction of the staff. Increase time between shifts/scatter break periods to minimize staff interaction. This will also help in ensuring more time for cleaning and sanitation.
• Limit the number of people (staff, delivery driven, customers) who can come into the food premises at any one time.
• Use spacing measures (e.g. floor markers, stickers) at tills or queues, increase the gaps between workstations, seating arrangements, etc to ensure at least 1 meter gap is maintained between employees, customers and visitors.
• Prohibit sharing of lockers by employees and a gap of at least one meter is maintained by employees while using the lockers.
• For food deliveries, prefer leaving food packets outside the door or maintain a gap of 1 meter from the customer.
• Takeaways and food deliveries should be encouraged instead of dine-in options.
(Note: To avoid crowding at a place, a ticketing system can also be adopted).
Face-to-face meetings should be restricted as much as possible. The management should identify the roles or areas within a business that may be able to work from home or away from other staff. Avoid staff congregating in car parks or other common areas after their shift.

Cleaning and Sanitation

Food premise shall be always well maintained and cleaned thoroughly and sanitized daily. Cleaning and sanitation requirements mentioned in Schedule 4 shall be strictly followed.
Various areas of Food Establishment (such as food preparation/ production area, stores, packaging area, service area, waste disposal area, etc.), office space, transport vehicle shall be cleaned with soap and water, followed by disinfection (using freshly prepared 1 percent hypochlorite solution or any other disinfectant found to be effective against coronavirus).
Equipment, containers, utensils, cutlery, etc. should be cleaned thoroughly with soap and water. Preferably use hot water (above 60 °C) for washing and sanitizing.
High touchpoints (such as elevator buttons, handrails/handles, and call buttons, escalator handrails, public counters, intercom systems, equipment like telephone, printers/scanners, and other office machines, tabletops, chair handles, pens, diary files, keyboards, mouse, mouse pad, tea/coffee dispensing machines, etc.) shall be cleaned twice daily by mopping with a linen/absorbable cloth soaked in 1 percent sodium hypochlorite. In case of metallic surfaces like door handles, security locks, handles of baskets/carts, display racks where the use of bleach is not suitable, 70 percent alcohol shall be used to wipe the surfaces. Hand sanitizing stations should be installed in food establishments (especially at the entry) and near high contact surfaces.
Toilets and Washrooms shall be cleaned after every shift using water and detergent. This shall be followed with disinfection using 1 percent hypochlorite solution or an equivalent. For metallic surfaces (such as shower, taps, etc.) and surfaces where use of bleach is not suitable, use 70 percent alcohol based disinfectant.
In case any food handler coughs or sneezes without following respiratory hygiene or develops any flu-like symptoms, an area of two meters around the person shall be immediately vacated, thoroughly cleaned, and disinfected using freshly prepared I percent hypochlorite solution or any other disinfectant found to be effective against novel coronavirus. The toilet, counters, and equipment that came in contact with the suspected COVID 19 patients shall be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected using a 1 percent hypochlorite solution or 70 percent alcohol (in case of metallic surfaces).
All cleaning equipment, cloth, mops, reusable protective gear such as boots, gloves, etc. shall be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after use and prior to use in other areas.