General Questions
• How frequently are EEs changing gloves? Minimum is 1 hour, but this is only the minimum. More frequent glove changing might prevent skin from drying and becoming irritated.
• What brand of glove are they using? Lot code?
• Have they recently changed soap?
Specific Questions
Gloves
First steps in addressing complaints of alleged glove "allergies" or sensitivities:
Inform caller that gloves supplied by JIB are latex free, and non-powdered (both of which are known to cause allergic reactions or sensitives).
Coach employees to wash their hands with warm water not excessively hot water that may scald the skin.
Ensure that hands are rinsed well of soap and dried thoroughly before gloves are worn.
Hand sanitizer should NOT be applied before gloves are worn as this can cause skin to dry out and become irritated.
Request that restaurant management coach their employees on the above steps and if problems persist advise them to call the Quality Hotline for further guidance.
When the above protocol fails we've been challenged with a workable solution. The following are the proposed next action steps:
Advise manager that gloves may be purchased from petty cash
Gloves must be latex free and powder free.
Gloves must be approved for food contact - no medical grade gloves.
Gloves must be Vinyl or Nitrile - poly gloves are too thin
It is preferred that gloves be NSF certified
Ask restaurant management to make note of where gloves are purchased.
Hand Soap
For each and every EE that has a reaction to the hand soap and purchases outside JIB supply chain:
• The soap must always be the same brand/type as there needs to be an SDS sheet on-site. (Google, or contact the company)
• The soap must be stored in such a way that it is not going to cause an introduction of chemical into food and/or packaging.
• The soap must be in a plastic bottle, with a pump dispenser, and labeled with the employee’s name.
Hotline Rep. will create an HLO report (HL458)and email it to the caller with the info. above. The JIB should place the report, along with a copy of the SDS, in the EE's file and show this to Ecolab, or anyone else, upon request.
Coding
Ticket type: Other/Miscellaneous
USE HL198 - EE issue - Glove Reaction