What step helps prevent cross-contact by limiting which tools are used for each area or product?

• A. Random tool selection.
• B. Color coding.
• C. Reusing the same tools across areas.
• D. Not sanitizing tools.

Answer: (B)

Using color coding to designate tool sets for specific areas or products helps prevent cross-contact by creating a clear, at-a-glance separation of tools. When each area has its own color-coded tools and storage, staff can quickly grab the correct set for the task, reducing the chance that a tool used in one service is used in another. This visual cue supports hygiene and safety by keeping tools associated with specific products or processes, so contaminants don’t move between areas. In practice, assign colors to each service area (for example, one color for color services, another for chemical processing) and keep tools in color-matched bins or on color-coded stands. Staff then sanitize between uses as an additional safeguard, but the color system minimizes the opportunity for accidental cross-use in the first place. Other approaches would undermine this protection: random tool selection makes it easy to mix tools between areas, reusing the same tools across areas defeats the separation, and not sanitizing tools would fail to remove any contaminants that do get transferred.