Employees Must Wash Hands Sign Requirements: Food Code, States, OSHA

What the FDA Food Code says

The FDA publishes the Food Code as a model for retail food and food service rules. The 2026 edition says the model is offered for adoption by local, state and federal governments, so it binds a business only where a government has adopted it. Handwashing signage is section 6-301.14. The 2017 and 2026 editions use the same sentence: “A sign or poster that notifies food employees to wash their hands shall be provided at all handwashing sinks used by food employees and shall be clearly visible to food employees.”

The Food Code defines a food employee as an individual working with unpackaged food, food equipment or utensils, or food-contact surfaces. It marks the sign rule as a core item, the label for general sanitation and facilities rules rather than its priority items. The rule asks for a reminder only. It does not say what the sign must say, how big it must be or what language it uses.

How states word the rule

California's Retail Food Code, section 113953.5, is a close copy. In the January 2023 edition it says a sign or poster that notifies food employees to wash their hands “shall be posted at all handwashing lavatories used by food employees, and shall be clearly visible to food employees.” Toilet rooms in guestrooms of restricted food service facilities are exempt. That term covers small inns that serve only breakfast to registered guests, and some farm homestays.

Texas adopts the 2017 Food Code by reference in 25 TAC section 228.1 and does not list section 6-301.14 among the sections it excludes, so the Food Code sign rule applies. Section 228.32 adds a second sign. By all handwashing sinks, a sign or poster clearly visible to food employees must tell them to report symptoms and diagnosis information about their health as it relates to diseases transmissible through food. That is separate from the wash hands reminder.

Florida's Rule 61C-1.001 defines the Food Code for the state's hotel and restaurant rules to include Chapter 6 of the 2017 edition, where section 6-301.14 sits. Illinois incorporates Chapters 1 through 7 of the 2022 Food Code in 77 Ill. Adm. Code 750. New York writes its own sentence in 10 NYCRR 14-1.143(e): “Handwashing signs are to be posted at all employee handwashing facilities.”

Where the sign goes

The Food Code puts the sign at all handwashing sinks used by food employees, where it is clearly visible to them. A sign over or beside the basin is the plain way to be clearly visible. A sign on a restroom door or a far wall may not do that job.

Restroom sinks count. The Food Code calls for a handwashing sink in, or immediately adjacent to, toilet rooms (section 5-204.11), and California calls for handwashing facilities within or adjacent to toilet rooms (section 113953). Where food employees use that sink, it needs the sign. Sinks used for food preparation or utensil washing are a different case. The Food Code says they may not be given the handwashing aids of a handwashing sink (section 6-301.13).

• Handwashing sinks in food preparation areas
• Handwashing sinks at serving and dispensing areas
• Handwashing sinks in warewashing areas
• Restroom sinks that food employees use

Does the sign need a language?

None of the texts read for this guide sets a language for the sign. The Food Code and the California, Texas and New York sections are silent on language, and none says English only or asks for pictures. The stated aim is a sign that notifies food employees, so a sign your crew cannot read may not do that job.

If part of your crew reads Spanish, a Spanish or two-language sign is a reasonable question to raise with your inspector. Ask whether English must stay on the sign and whether a picture sign is accepted. Employees must wash hands signs in Spanish carry the English and the Spanish on one sign, one option for a Spanish line, and the plain English Employees Must Wash Hands sign can hang beside it.

What OSHA requires

OSHA's general industry sanitation standard, 29 CFR 1910.141, applies to permanent places of employment. It says lavatories shall be made available in all places of employment. Each needs hot and cold running water or tepid running water, hand soap or a similar cleansing agent, and individual hand towels, air blowers or clean individual sections of continuous cloth toweling. Washing facilities must be kept sanitary.

Nothing in that section requires a handwashing sign. Its only posting duty covers outlets for nonpotable water, which must be posted or otherwise marked to show the water is unsafe to drink. A state that runs its own workplace safety program may write different rules, so check yours.

Offices, clinics and other workplaces

The Food Code defines a food establishment as an operation that stores, prepares, packages, serves or vends food directly to the consumer, or otherwise provides food for human consumption, such as a restaurant, market, vending location or institution. An office with no food operation is not a food establishment, so the Food Code sign rule does not reach it.

In an office or a clinic that serves no food, the OSHA sink rule above applies, with no sign duty. You can still post a reminder in restrooms and break rooms. That is a choice, not a federal rule. A cafe or kitchen inside an office or clinic is a different case, so ask your health department.

How to check your rule and order signs

Adoption dates differ. In the texts read, Texas and Florida were on the 2017 Food Code and Illinois on 2022, while the FDA now publishes a 2026 edition. We read the August 2021 Texas text and California's January 2023 edition, so confirm that the wording has not changed. Call the health department that inspects you and ask for the sign rule in writing.

Browse Employees Must Wash Hands signs for the sink, restroom signs for the door and employees only signs for kitchen and back-of-house doors. See all safety signs. This guide explains the rules in plain words and is not legal advice. Check with your state and local health department.

• Which Food Code edition does the state enforce?
• Does the county or city add its own sign rule?
• Can the sign be in Spanish, or in two languages?
• Do restroom sinks used by staff need a sign?

Common questions

Sources

• U.S. FDA, Food Code 2026 (sections 6-301.14, 5-204.11, 6-301.13, 2-301.14 and definitions; model status)
• U.S. FDA, Food Code 2017 (section 6-301.14, the edition Texas and Florida adopt)
• California Retail Food Code, Health and Safety Code sections 113893, 113953 and 113953.5 (excerpt, January 2023 edition, hosted by San Luis Obispo County Environmental Health)
• Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas Food Establishment Rules, 25 TAC Chapter 228 (consolidated, August 2021; sections 228.1 and 228.32)
• Florida Administrative Code, Rule 61C-1.001, Definitions (Food Code, 2017 edition, Chapter 6)
• New York State Department of Health, 10 NYCRR section 14-1.143, Handwashing facilities
• Illinois Administrative Code, Title 77, Part 750, Food Code, section 750.115 Applicability (and 750.110)
• eCFR, 29 CFR 1910.141, Sanitation (OSHA general industry)

This guide explains the rules in plain words; it is not legal advice. We read the sources above on October 24, 2026. Rules change and many are set by your state or city: check the current text, or ask your local code official, before you rely on it.