Employee hygiene is important to any business, but to those that serve or prepare food and to those that work with people it is crucial. If you own a business with strict OSHA laws on employee hygiene, it is imperative that you enforce them with your employees. If you do not follow these laws, you will be liable. And you risk having your business shut down for good or dealing with the guilt (and perhaps legal effects) of making your customers ill.

What Rights Do I have On Employee Hygiene?

As an employer, you have the right to demand that your employees keep themselves as hygienic as possible. If you work in the food industry, this means your employees must wash their hands every time after using the rest room. You must encourage them to wash their hands often throughout the day. A part of your employee hygiene protocol may also include wearing hairnets or gloves while preparing food.

If your business involves working with other people, like in nursing, you also have the right and duty to demand that your employees wear clean clothing and that they wash their hands frequently. Your employee hygiene policy should include washing their hands after working with each patient, particularly if the nurse helps the patient use the rest room, changes any dressings or gets equipment out for the patient. Failure for nurses to follow employee hygiene procedures can spread illness among patients. For those with a compromised immune system, the added germs can be deadly.

Even if you don’t own a business that involves working with food or with patients, you still have the right to demand a certain level of hygiene from your employees. As an employer, you can demand that your employees remain presentable always, are free of body odor, and are clean.

How Do I Enforce My Employee Hygiene Policy?

You should present your employee hygiene policy in writing to each of your newly hired workers. This policy should clearly explain expectations of employee hygiene. For example, you might include when the employees must wash their hands, when they should wear gloves, when they should wear a hairnet, and what clothing is and is not acceptable to wear. You might also wish to ban the use of cologne since the scent can be irritating to certain customers and patients.

Besides describing expectations, the employee hygiene policy should also detail the repercussions of ignoring these rules. You can be precise, such as list an exact number of days a person might be suspended for breaking the rules. Or, you can be more vague, by providing a range of possible repercussions. Be sure to take some time when creating the employee hygiene policy because it will be your guideline when it comes to disciplining employees that choose to ignore it.

Once you have created an employee hygiene policy, present this information to your employees. In addition, they should sign a paper documenting that they have received a copy of it. Then, when an issue does arise, consult this policy to decide the action you will take in response to your employee’s lack of proper hygiene.

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