Mobile Phones in a Commercial Kitchen

Mobile phones in a commercial kitchen should be stored away from all food-handling areas — ideally in a designated locker, cubby or staff area — and never carried or used at the food-preparation bench. Phones are handled constantly, rarely cleaned, and carry bacteria, so a food handler who touches a phone and then food without washing their hands creates a direct contamination route. The rule that makes this manageable is simple: store personal items away from food, and wash your hands after any phone use before returning to food. The same logic applies to keys, wallets, bags, jewellery removed for a shift and other personal effects. None of them belong in a food-preparation zone. Here is how to set up storage and habits that keep phones and personal items from becoming a food-safety problem. Why are mobile phones a food-safety risk? A mobile phone is one of the most frequently touched objects a person owns. It goes in and out of pockets, gets used in the bathroom, is passed between hands, and is almost never sanitised. In a kitchen, a phone taken out mid-shift can transfer bacteria straight to hands, and from hands to ready-to-eat food. Because phones are warm and handled so often, they are an ideal surface for microorganisms to survive. Standard 3.2.2 of the Food Standards Code requires food handlers to take all practicable measures to prevent unnecessary contact with ready-to-eat food and to keep themselves and anything they handle from contaminating food. According to FSANZ health and hygiene advice for food handlers , good personal hygiene — including keeping personal items away from food — is central to preventing contamination. Where should staff store phones and personal items? The goal is a clear physical separation between personal belongings and food-handling areas. Personal items should be stored in a designated location that staff pass on their way in, not carried into the kitchen. Good options include: Lockers or cubbies in a staff room or changing area, away from food and equipment. A labelled shelf or basket in a break area, well clear of any food-preparation surface. Coat hooks and bag storage positioned outside the kitchen, not above benches. What matters is that phones, bags, keys and wallets do not sit on prep benches, near open food, or on shelves above food-contact surfaces. Even a phone resting on a clean bench transfers whatever it was last in contact with. What is the rule on handwashing after using a phone? If a staff member does use their phone during a shift — even briefly — they must wash their hands thoroughly before touching food again. This is the single most important control, because it breaks the chain between the phone's surface and the food. Handwashing should follow the full routine: wet hands, soap, scrub for the recommended time, rinse and dry with single-use towel or an air dryer. Managers should make this a firm, well-understood expectation rather than an occasional reminder. Where phone use is genuinely needed for work — for example, a supervisor checking orders — handwashing immediately afterward, before returning to any food task, keeps the risk under control. Building this into your staff training means every new starter learns the rule from day one. When can phones legitimately be used in a kitchen? There are limited situations where a device is used for work, such as checking a booking system, a recipe, or a temperature-logging app. The key is that these uses happen away from open food, and that hands are washed before returning to food handling. Some venues provide a shared, wiped-down tablet for such tasks so that personal phones stay in lockers entirely. Personal use — texting, calls, social media — should not happen in food-preparation areas at all. Restricting personal use to breaks, taken in the staff area where phones are stored, removes the temptation to pull a phone out mid-task. A clear line between work devices and personal devices makes the policy easy to follow and enforce. What should managers put in a personal-items policy? A short, written policy removes ambiguity and gives managers something to point to. It does not need to be complex. A practical policy covers where items are stored, when phones may and may not be used, and the handwashing requirement after any phone contact. Item or action Expectation Mobile phone Stored in locker or staff area; not on prep benches Bags, keys, wallets Stored away from all food-handling areas Phone use during shift Away from open food; wash hands before returning to food Personal calls and texts Breaks only, in the staff area Work device use Away from food; sanitise shared devices regularly Managers should model the behaviour themselves — a supervisor scrolling a phone at the pass undermines the rule instantly. Keeping the policy alongside your cleaning and sanitising records and evidence that staff have read it makes it easy to show an Environmental Health Officer (EHO) that hygiene expectations are set and understood. State health departments such as Victoria's Department of Health and the FSANZ website reinforce the same personal-hygiene principles. How do phones interact with temperature and hygiene records? Many kitchens now log fridge temperatures, cooking checks and cleaning tasks on a device, which can blur the line between a work tool and a contamination risk. The solution is not to ban digital records — they are far more reliable than paper — but to keep the logging device out of the food zone and clean. A wall-mounted tablet at a workstation away from open food, wiped down regularly, lets staff record a temperature check without ever bringing a personal phone to the bench. If staff do use a personal phone for a genuine work task, the same rule applies: handle it away from open food and wash hands before returning. Treating shared work devices as food-contact-adjacent equipment — cleaned and sanitised on a schedule — means your digital records improve food safety rather than quietly undermining it. Building this into onboarding through structured staff training keeps the habit consistent as your team changes. Frequently asked questions Can food handlers use their phones in the kitchen? Personal phone use should not happen in food-preparation areas. If a phone must be used — for a work task such as checking an order — it should be handled away from open food, and the person must wash their hands thoroughly before returning to any food handling. Where should staff keep their phones during a shift? In a designated storage location away from food, such as a locker, cubby or staff-area shelf. Phones, bags, keys and wallets should never sit on preparation benches or shelves above food-contact surfaces. Do you have to wash your hands after touching your phone? Yes. Phones carry bacteria and are rarely cleaned, so any food handler who touches a phone must wash their hands thoroughly before touching food again. This breaks the contamination chain between the phone and the food. Should managers have a written policy on personal items? A short written policy is strongly recommended. It sets clear expectations on where items are stored, when phones may be used, and the handwashing rule, and gives managers a consistent standard to enforce and show inspectors. Clear hygiene expectations only work when every staff member has seen and understood them. FoodSafety HQ lets you build a staff hygiene checklist, share your personal-items policy, and track who has signed off, so phones and personal effects stay out of your food. Explore staff training and records , or start a free trial from our pricing page .