Illness & Infectious Diseases

All employees involved in the manufacture, handling, packaging, transporting of food are required
by law to notify their employers if they are suffering from or have been in contact with other
persons who have or are still suffering from any potentially harmful disease.

All reported illnesses are documented on the F026 Illness Register.

A carrier is a person who shows no symptoms of the disease but carries the bacteria or virus in the
body that can cause the disease. This can occur when an infected person develops immunity and
recovers from the symptoms of the disease, while still carrying the active disease-causing agent. If
any employee is known to have suffered from such a disease a doctor should clear them
for return of work. In particular:
 Diarrhoea  Sore throat with fever
 Discharges from ear, nose, mouth  Visibly infected skin lesions
 Fever  Vomiting

People who have the following may remain carriers long after they recover from their illness:
 Dysentery
 Food poisoning
 Gastroenteritis
 Infective hepatitis
 Jaundice
 Salmonellosis
 Typhoid fever

A person who is suffering from or carrying an infectious disease or has open sores should not be
engaged in the manufacture or handling of food products. This includes common illnesses such as
colds and influenza as the danger is through the coughing, sneezing, or hand-to-nose contact.

For further information, check out:

 VIC Health Website: The Blue Book ed 2005 http://www.health.vic.gov.au/ideas
 NSW Health Website http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/publichealth/infectious/index.asp