Tap Use and Hand Washing Activities of Kitchen Staff in Restaurants within Gauteng, South Africa

Abstract

This paper seeks to identify the common behaviours of kitchen staff when using the tap and practices of washing hands. The study involved the reporting of a mixed method research design. All water usage practices and hand washing behaviour observed during the fieldwork process were noted. During general kitchen activities, staff only closed the taps properly nine times and left the taps open four times for the duration of the activity only. Taps left open during cleaning procedures occurred 24 times. Furthermore, taps were not properly closed 12 times. Staff took soap from the dispenser first, 29 times before opening the tap. The water used for rinsing hands was caught in a basin nine times and wiping hands with a wet cloth instead of washing with water and soap occurred twice. There is some form of awareness regarding hand hygiene and the practice of saving water, but not as evident during various other kitchen activities. Work-specific focus needs to take place to achieve water saving in the restaurant sector. A repetition of this study may lead to interesting finds on how the pandemic changed the hand washing awareness of kitchen staff whilst water shortages are occurring.

Keywords

• tap use
• hand washing
• water
• south africa