In short
- What the rule is
- A food handler with a symptom or a known foodborne disease reports it to their supervisor, and the business makes sure they do not handle food where it is likely to be contaminated.
- Who it applies to
- Every food business and every food handler. The handler's duty is in clause 14 of Standard 3.2.2 and the business's duty is in clause 16.
- What you need to do
- Make sure staff know what to report, take an unwell handler off food work, and keep what they tell you private.
- What this does not require
- The Code sets no exclusion period for ordinary gastro, and food law gives no power to exclude a named worker. Keeping an unwell handler off food is the business's own duty.
What the rule says
Standard 3.2.2 defines a symptom as diarrhoea, vomiting, sore throat with fever, fever or jaundice (clause 1). The list is closed. A sore throat without a fever is not a symptom, unless the handler knows they have a foodborne disease.
- The handler (clause 14). A food handler reports a symptom, or a foodborne disease they know they have or carry, to their supervisor, and does not handle food where contamination is reasonably likely.
- The business (clause 16). The business makes sure a person known or reasonably suspected to have a symptom does not handle food where contamination is likely.
- Privacy (clause 18(2)). What a handler says about their health is not passed to anyone other than the proprietor or an authorised officer, and is used only to deal with the risk of contaminating food.
For a handler who has or carries a known foodborne disease, the way back to food work is advice from a medical practitioner (clause 16(3)). That part is law.
Who it applies to
Every food business, and everyone who handles food or surfaces that food touches, casual and part time staff included. The duty sits on both sides: the handler reports, and the business acts.
In WA there is one more step. A proprietor told that one of four listed pathogens has been found, or is suspected, in a person connected with the business must notify the Department of Health. A staff illness can trigger it.
By sector: Restaurants and Bars, Aged Care and Hospitals
What it looks like in practice
Tell every new starter what to report and to whom, before their first shift. FSANZ's advice for handlers also asks them to report an infected skin sore, or a discharge from the ears, nose or eyes, that could contaminate food.
When someone reports a symptom, move them away from food work at once. Work away from food and food surfaces may still be possible.
Guidance, not law
For ordinary gastro, waiting 48 hours after symptoms stop before going back to food work is guidance, not law. It comes from the national gastroenteritis guidelines, and FSANZ repeats it in its advice to handlers. For a known foodborne disease, a doctor's advice decides.
Keep a short note of what was reported, when, and what you did. Keep it with the owner, not on a shared board.
What you are not required to do
- A set exclusion period for every illness. The 48 hour figure is guidance, and no period is set for a sore throat.
- A doctor's certificate after ordinary symptoms. Medical advice is the legal gate only for a known foodborne disease or a carrier.
- Telling the team why someone went home. Clause 18(2) limits who may hear a handler's health details.
- A power to exclude a named worker under food law. Notices under the Food Act 2008 (WA) are served on the proprietor, and the duty to keep an unwell handler off food is the business's.
Doing it in Hospitality Shield
A suspected foodborne illness, in a customer or a member of staff, is recorded in Hospitality Shield as its own kind of incident, and for a WA venue the screen then sets out the notification duty in full. Training videos cover hand washing and when a handler has to stop working with food.
30 day free trial.
Asked about this rule
Is a sore throat a symptom under the Code?
Only with a fever, or where the handler knows they have a foodborne disease. The list in clause 1 of Standard 3.2.2 is diarrhoea, vomiting, sore throat with fever, fever and jaundice.
How long should a handler stay off after gastro?
No clause sets a period. The usual guidance is 48 hours after symptoms stop. For a known foodborne disease, the handler returns when a medical practitioner advises it (clause 16(3)).
Can we tell the rest of the team why someone went home?
Not their health details. Clause 18(2) limits that information to the proprietor and an authorised officer, and to dealing with the risk to food.
Who is responsible if an unwell handler works with food?
Both of them. The handler has a duty to report and stay off food under clause 14, and the business has a duty to keep them off food under clause 16.
Sources
- Standard 3.2.2 Food Safety Practices and General Requirements, Federal Register of Legislation
- Health and hygiene: advice for food handlers, Food Standards Australia New Zealand
- Health and hygiene: advice for food businesses, Food Standards Australia New Zealand
- Food Regulations 2009 (WA), Western Australian Legislation
General information about the rules in Western Australia. It is not legal advice. Your local government's environmental health officer decides how the rules apply to your premises.