What Has Changed 811 of Staff Behavior & Food Safety Risk
811 is actually a reference to the phone number you call in North America before digging to protect yourself and others from unintentionally hitting underground utility lines. Not to alarm or abuse the numbering system, The 811 of Staff Behavior serves a similar capacity, the reference to unintentional effects or consequences of behavior and Food Safety Risk! More importantly, for too long it seems because we have a food safety plan or program, it is assumed we have met our obligation to public safety. Like 811 we know enough about Human Behavior, that no one means any harm, however, not to take human behavior into account, and the effects, are like taking a chance things are going to work out if we just have a system in place to ensure the food is served.
When Food Safety Schemes (Programs) Don’t’ Work
There are documented studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of Food Safety Schemes, offered as food safety plans or programs within organizations, and why these programs or approaches alone are not enough to reduce the likelihood of an outbreak. These factors plague the industry beyond food safety programs intent, and not just the effects of frontline behavior, but also performance (ability to recognize & correct), as well as accountability (who is responsible, when things go wrong, results of corrective action).
As a result, behavior becomes one of the strongest points of why organizations should seek to deploy a Food Safety Culture, with tools and controls that may counter Staff Behavior and increase food safety effectiveness. In a food safety culture, the process of "Food Safety and, or Brand Protection" is a community process (see The Transformation of an Organizations Culture of Food Safety). To this point, in another post, "Food Safety Culture Is Tomorrow’s Frontier", "Food Safety Cultures infuse organizational process, focused on MANAGING the Ever-Changing Dynamics that threatens organizational process, growth and or brand".
Food Safety Cultures, focus on"Food Safety or Brand Protection", will also state the role of their food safety commitment related to consumer relations, consumer protection as part of its' overall mission, vision and commitment to its' brand, process and community it serves. Another point, as to how behavior affects food safety, in a food safety culture, this process is often accountable to a Quality Assurance Team or Committee. This process usurps the possibility of a manager or the person that holds the certification, having to affect or influence behavior, when that person's behavior is part of the issue. Yes, behavior also must include the actions of administration and or management, who are the industry professionals, experts that are responsible for influencing, supporting, supplying, and the leadership, training, and tools, as well as corrective measures needed to effectively delivering safe food service.
Training and Certification Helps
While food safety training and certification reduce the likelihood as well as identify the potential risk of foodborne outbreaks; the goals ultimately are to increase public safety as well the need to preserve an organization's brand. Training and certification programs are "The Law" (regulated) and a necessary step to Close the Gap, yet even this fact is decreased in effectiveness when not deployed around a specific culture of accountability. One food safety trainer voices his frustration by identifying “a manager that achieves 98% on his certification exam, but the same manager, the very next day, allowing a stockpot of Chile to cool, in the walk-in, not cooled down properly".
While It has been found “training may bring about an increased knowledge of food safety, this does not always result in a positive change in food handling behavior[i]”, which are the finding of a 2001 study of “Food handlers’ beliefs and self-reported practices”. This post is not about which systems work best but factors that reduce food safety systems' effectiveness.
Removing Barriers That Hinder Workers
While management focus is on programs, systems or schemes that focus on enabling food safety practices; not all workers are focusing on why their efforts will not work under certain conditions. Programs or Systems are focused on deploying or ensuring certain practices (often "The Law" or Regulations); while your staff carries out these practices or processes in a systematic demonstration of safe food handling.
The first barriers that hinder practice are the need for the placement of supplies and or equipment in production areas that serve as “control points”; whether it be a lack of forms to record events or dispensers that deploy soap, sanitizes or proper drying of hands. Missing elements increase the likelihood of risk or risky behavior. Complaints of inadequate supplies and or equipment; to include outdated and or not enough supplies to perform the task, in a timely manner reduce the likelihood the task will be performed. An organization's food safety culture must put special emphasis on “ENABLING" food service works to not just perform but excel.
In a 2001 study by a Food Safety Research Group, University of Wales Institute[ii], researchers in an effort to identify a number of barriers that hinder workers from implementing food safety practices. The study “Food handlers’ beliefs and self-reported practices” focused on barriers, included: lack of time, lack of staff and a lack of resources, to include inadequate equipment, supplies and or staff that discourage the performance of safe food handling measures. While some of these beliefs are perceived barriers (lack of training, supplies and or equipment not being available), leading up to 63% of food workers admitted they did not always carry out the food safety based on these perceived behaviors.
Anticipate the Human Factors
A similar study by NSF[iii] (Human Behavior's Role in Food Safety) of over 10,000 industry trained worked brought to light “100% of participants being educated on food safety measures, over 41% demonstrated a dangerous g-a-p between their knowledge & performance of the practices. Coined as “rogue elements”; “Human Behavior, “regardless of the sanitary environment in which they are working, still contributes the greatest risk to food processing environments” states Dan Fone business development director for NSF International's global food safety division. NSF International combined leading research on human behavior and psychology with the organization's expertise in food safety to design an intelligent behavior-based food safety assessment model that helps companies build a culture of food safety[iv].
Behavior Science of Food Safety, Laura R. Green, Ph.D.[v], a behavioral scientist working with environmental health (EH), at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health, notes that “Human behavior is complex, and multiple factors, not just knowledge, affect whether humans engage in any particular behavior. Several behavioral science theories have focused on identifying factors, which include in part; knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about the behavior. These should also include our intentions to engage in a behavior; perceived behavioral norms as well as perceived barriers to engaging in the desired behaviors”. (Ajzen, 1991; Glanz, Lewis, & Rimer, 2002; Triandis, 1980).
Looking forward to New Content? Updates, 2020 Topics are on the way! We will be publishing our 2020 Webinar Schedule end of January 2020. Be looking out for our new partnership/Ambassador contributor with Pineapple Academy, "Building Culinary Culture with Online Food Service Training".
For the Complete 811 of this Topic; "Including administration's role, How treating staff differently can add to risk! (click the link to Frontline Journal)
About The Author Larry Bowe, Principal Consultant; H.A.C.C.P. Navigator LLC, a certified ServSafe Food Safety Instructor and Proctor, as well as a certified instructor, proctor for retail foodservice, grocery outlets by The National Registry of Food Safety Professionals.
Larry Bowe founder, and principal consultant of Food Safety Navigator dba Frontline of Food Safety; authoring topics on “Establishing a Culture of Food Safety”. Larry's focus is on “Building a Frontline Defense”, as well as offering tools that deliver “Just in Time Solutions”, to include Triple.Check™.3D Audits, Food Safety Navigator 450 PDF Library/Topics on food handling, safety, and prevention. Food Safety Navigator goals are to offer online, downloadable content to assist industry stakeholder’s tools to “close the knowledge gaps”, as well as correct poor performance & behavior of your front-line staff
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Reference
[i] Food handlers’ beliefs and self-reported practices
[ii] Clayton, D., Griffith, C., Price, P. & Peters
[iii] Human Behavior’s Role in Food Safety
[iv] Human Behavior’s Role in Food Safety
[v] Behavior Science of Food Safety
[vii] Food Defense: Protecting the Food Supply from Intentional Harm
Posted by Food Safety Navigator at 11:57 PM