Hand wash sinks must be provided in or near all of the following areas except?

Hand wash sinks are essential for promoting hygiene and preventing contamination in food service environments. They must be conveniently located to ensure that food handlers can wash their hands frequently and effectively, particularly after using the restroom, handling food, or performing tasks that could contaminate their hands.

In kitchen prep areas, hand wash sinks are necessary to enable staff to maintain cleanliness while preparing food. In dishwashing areas, they are important for staff to wash their hands after handling dirty dishes or utensils. Restroom facilities require hand wash sinks for personal hygiene after using the restroom, ensuring that employees can clean their hands before returning to food handling tasks.

While customer areas may have hand wash facilities, they are not required to have dedicated hand wash sinks like the other areas mentioned. Instead, food establishments often have customers use restrooms for handwashing. Therefore, the absence of a mandated hand wash sink in customer areas sets this option apart from the others, as those locations prioritize guest service over the direct food handling requirements seen in the kitchen and dishwashing areas.