Assessing hand hygiene in food manufacturing: The feasibility of CCTV surveillance

Installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems for surveillance is common in food and drink manufacturing businesses. Despite widespread use for security, it is suggested CCTV could assist in assessing food handler practices, such as hand hygiene compliance. This study aimed to explore the feasibility of using CCTV for covert observation to assess hand hygiene compliance. Face-to-face interviews with technical leaders (n = 21) from manufacturing businesses (n = 11) explored the use and benefits of CCTV and investigated perceptions regarding utilising CCTV to assess hand hygiene compliance. Although CCTV systems are common in food manufacturing, findings indicated they were seldom used to observe hand hygiene practices. Cameras were predominantly installed as a crime deterrent or used in the event of incidents, accidents or complaint investigations. Businesses reported a lack of dedicated resources and time to conduct regular structured observations using CCTV systems to establish compliance. CCTV footage (53h) from manufacturers (n = 3) including 852 hand hygiene attempts was reviewed using an electronic observational checklist to determine compliance. Findings indicated that although the majority (88%) of food handlers attempted to implement hand hygiene practices prior to entering food production areas, almost all attempts (98%) were non-compliant with hand hygiene protocols. This study concludes that the widespread use of CCTV systems, providing multiple vantage points throughout food manufacturing facilities, allows for unobtrusive observation of food handler behaviours. The study has determined the feasibility of using covert observation to assess hand hygiene compliance in food manufacturing businesses to identify practices that require further direct remediation or intervention.