Chapter 3 WELFARE FACILITIES FOR ESTABLISHMENT EMPLOYEES

One source of potential contamination of product is cross contamination from employee welfare facilities. In designing and locating employee facilities, great care should be given to preventing over-crowding and congestion and to providing enough hand wash sinks and toilets for your employees. This chapter provides additional guidelines that you may wish to consider in making any modifications to or building any welfare facilities for your employees.

1. Dressing (Locker) Rooms

Dressing rooms must be provided for employees. In addition to privacy considerations, these dressing rooms should be located where they will not be a potential source of cross contamination of product. Consider the following guidelines for these dressing rooms:

  • Dressing rooms should be separate from room s or compartments where product is prepared, stored, or handled.
  • Dressing rooms should be separated from the toilet area.
  • Separate dressing rooms should be provided for each sex if both sexes are employed by the establishment.
  • Dressing rooms should have abundant, well-distributed light of good quality.
  • Separate dressing rooms for raw product and other product department employees will help prevent cross contamination of product.
  • Receptacles for soiled clothing should be provided adjacent to employees’ dressing rooms.

2. Lockers

Lockers should be provided for employees clothing and personal items. To prevent insanitary conditions, consider the following guidelines when choosing the type of lockers and the arrangement and location s for them:

  • To prevent the potential for cross contamination, the location of lockers should be separate from rooms or compartments where product is prepared, stored, or handled.
  • Lockers should be large enough to store a change of clothing and other personal items.
  • For ease of cleaning, lockers should be constructed of materials that are rigid , durable, non-corrosive, easily cleaned and inspected , impervious to moisture, a light, solid color, with a smooth or easily cleaned texture, and have sloping tops.
  • Lockers should either be in stalled so that there is enough room under them that they can be easily cleaned and inspected, or they should be sealed to the floor.

3. Drinking Fountains

Sanitary drinking water fountains should be provided. Consider the following guidelines when installing drinking water fountains:

  • Drinking water fountains should be provided at convenient locations throughout the establishment to minimize the distance that employees need to travel to reach a fountain. This is especially important in preventing
  • Cross-contamination from employees working in raw or inedible areas and traveling to processing or read y-to-eat areas to use a fountain. Consider the following locations for placing drinking fountains:
  • welfare areas including cafeterias, dressing (locker) rooms, and toilet rooms
  • inspectors’ offices
  • edible product areas including kill floor, deboning, and cut-up areas
  • inedible product areas
  • immediately outside freezers and coolers
  • storage areas
  • Drinking water fountains should be connected to the potable water supply and either directly connected to the underfloor drainage system or should discharge through an air gap to a hub drain.
  • Drinking water fountains should be other than hand operated, and if placed as part of hand wash sink, should be located high enough to avoid splash from the sink.
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