Restaurant workers to undergo Xrays and medical check ups

By Shezna Shums

Restaurant workers will have to undergo a mandatory medical check up and are currently being given a chest X ray to detect Tuberculosis. Compliance with this requirement will be taken into consideration when licences are issued to run any type of eating houses said the Chief Medical Officer of the CMC’s Public Health Department Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam.

The CMC is getting batches of restaurant and hotel workers to visit the Medical Research Institute for a chest X ray to check for TB. This project was started three weeks ago by the CMC and will cover all hotels, restaurants and eating houses within the Colombo area.

“We are mainly checking for TB to prevent it being passed on by the restaurant worker to the clients,” Dr. Kariyawasam said.

The chest X ray is being done mainly on persons handling, preparing food or servicing customers, and is done free of charge. Apart from this, it is mandatory for the restaurant workers to undergo other lab tests including a blood test, and also obtain a certificate from a medical practitioner to the effect that they are in good health.

This is the first time the CMC is carrying out a systematic medical check up on all restaurant workers, although previously this was done on a smaller scale.