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FOOD SAFTEYCREATING

CULTURE

ServSafe.com

Protectyourcustomers,yourbusinessandtherestaurantindustrybyprioritizingfoodsafety.

EMPOWERYOUR TEAM

SET THESTANDARD

FIND YOURSYSTEM

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Large industry, large responsibility

With 2016 sales expected to reach $783

billion, the restaurant industry is big

business. According to the 2016

National Restaurant Association Forecast, the in-

dustry is projected to provide a record 14.4 million

jobs this year, and the momentum continues into

the next decade. Specifically, jobs that combine

food preparation and service are projected to rise

more than 15 percent between 2016 and 2026, a

gain of 504,000 positions.

Last year, two in five restaurant operators said

they plan to devote more resources to employee

training. After all, great employees are informed

employees. According to the Center for Disease

Control, roughly one in six Americans gets sick

from a foodborne illness annually. When food

safety procedures are correctly followed and

entrenched in a business’ culture, error rate is

reduced, return on investment is greater,

employee empowerment soars and your

reputation is intact.

That being said, culture is complex. A set of

shared attitudes, values, goals and practices

that characterizes an organization doesn’t fall

into place overnight. Reflection, planning and

investment must occur, and senior leadership

must want, lead and reinforce the cultural shift.

In this paper, we’re delving into the importance of

creating comprehensive food safety culture that

is embraced from the top down. Food safety goes

beyond passing health inspections and meeting

regulatory requirements. Proactive, well-executed

efforts prevent hazards detrimental to the health

of your guests and your business alike. Through

your diligence, the industry as a whole becomes

an even stronger force.

CREATINGFOODSAFETYCULTURE

14.4 millionNumberofjobstheindustryisprojectedtoprovidethisyear.

$783 b2016restaurantsalesareexpectedtoreach$783billion

15%Projectedjobgrowthfrom2016-2026forjobscombiningfoodprepandservice.

2 in 5restaurantoperatorssaidtheyplantodevotemoreresourcestoemployeetraining.

Source: National Restaurant Association Forecast

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Find your system

CREATINGFOODSAFETYCULTURE

Everyorganization’sneedsmaybe

slightlydifferent,butthegoaloffood

safetyremainsthesame:keepcustomers

safe.Toaccomplishthis,leadershipshould

implementafoodsafetymanagementsystem

consistingofprograms,proceduresandmea-

suresthatactivelycontrolrisksandhazards

throughtheflowoffood.

Anexampleofafoodsafetymanagement

systemisactivemanagerialcontrol.Aproactive

approachtofoodsafety,thissystemincludes

havingcertifiedfoodprotectionmanagerson

staff,definingstandardoperatingproceduresfor

criticalstepsandmonitoringeffectivenessalong

theway.

Theforward-thinkingprinciplesofactive

managerialcontrolcanbeappliedtoHazard

AnalysisandCriticalControlPoint,asystem

basedontheideathatsignificantbiological,

chemicalorphysicalhazardscanbeprevented

iftheyareidentifiedatspecificpointswithina

product’sflowthroughanoperation.According

totheU.S.FoodandDrugAdministration,the

successofaHACCPplandependsoneducating

andtrainingmanagementandemployeesinthe

importanceoftheirroleinproducingsafefoods.

Morethanadecadeago,Food Safety

ManagementauthorHalKingcarefullycrafted

Chick-fil-A’sfoodsafetysystem,whichcurrently

includesServSafe-certifyingalloperatorsaswell

asconductingcompany-specifictraining.Chick-

fil-Aselectsitsfranchisees,whichKingcredits

asafactortothecompany’soverallcultureof

commitment.Heleveragedthiswhenimplement-

ingthesystem.

Thoughnotrequiredbyhealthcode,allChick-

fil-Afoodhandlerswearcolor-specificglovesfor

variouskitchentaskstoavoidcross-contamina-

tion.Toshowacommitmenttocleaningandsan-

itation,thestaffcanusedisposable,premoist-

enedwipes,ratherthanreusableclothrags,to

cleancustomertables.Inaddition,theyprovide

customerswithpremoistenedhandwipesinthe

diningroom.

NowpresidentofPublicHealthInnovations,King

believesthatexemplaryfoodsafetyprocedures

resultinhigherqualityfoodandenhancedprofit

marginthroughprevention.Sharingideaswith

otherentitiesinvolvedorconcernedwithfood

safetycanhelpstrengthenyoursystem.

“Ihavefoundthatpartnershipswithindustry,

governmentandacademiccolleagueshaveled

tothesuccessofourprogram.Youcan’tdo

thingsalone;youcan’tknowitall,”Kingsaid.

Chick-fil-Aandotherhigh-performingcompanies

continuallyevaluatetheirfoodsafetyprocedures

tostayaheadofpotentialfoodborneillness

crises.Forexample,BJ’sRestaurants,a

California-based,174-unitchain,auditsits

restaurantsatleast12timesayeartonotonly

gainaclearerunderstandingofoperations,but

alsotoreinforcetheimportanceofproperfood

safetybehaviors.

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Set the standardI

mportantcomponentsoffirmlyengrainingfood

safetyculturearestrongmodelingbehaviorand

reinforcementfromleadership.Ifemployeessee

managementdisregardfoodsafetyproceduresorfail

toreinforceorcorrectimproperprocedureswithinthe

establishment,theymaynotfeellikefoodsafetyprotocol

isnecessary.

TheABCModel,acognitivemanagementtool,states

thatanindividualorgroupneedsasetofantecedents(A)to

consistentlyachievedesiredbehaviors(B),whichthenbring

consequences(C).Anexamplewouldbetrainingan

employeehowandwhentowashhishandscorrectly(A)

andallowhimtocorrectlyperformthetaskindependently

(B).Thatresultsinpositivereinforcementfromthemanager

andsafefoodforconsumers.Consistentconsequencesare

crucialtostartingandstoppingbehaviors.Infoodsafety,

mixedsignalsleadtoconfusionandcostlyerrors.

Tofortifytrainingmessaging,useconsistentterminology,

andwhenpossible,teachemployeesintheirnative

languages.WhenBurgerKingsoughtfoodsafetytraining

programsforitsoverseasrestaurants,itsexecutivesasked

theServSafecreatorstodevelopanewprogramthatcould

beusedtocreateglobalfoodsafetystandardsinvarious

languages.Nowtheproductisavailableinalmost30

languages,makingitthelargestglobalfoodsafetytraining

productbymarketshare.

Visualaidsandparticipatoryexercisesalsocanpositively

impactthelearningprocess.Whenyouencourage

employeestoaskquestionsiftheydon’tunderstanda

conceptorprocedure,youopencommunicationlinesand

startadialogue.Makeitknownthatseniorleadershipwas

involvedinthetrainingdevelopmentprocessandexpects

steadfastimplementation.

CREATINGFOODSAFETYCULTURE

A Individual or

group needs

a set of

ANTECEDENTS

B In order to

consistently

achieve desired

BEHAVIORS

C Which then bring

CONSEQUENCES

THE ABC MODEL

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Oneseniorleadercan’tperformeveryfood

safety-relatedtaskineachofhisorherrestaurants.

Whilecreatingafoodsafetyculturebeginsat

theseniorlevel,managersandotheron-the-groundteam

membersrealizefoodsafetyinyourrestaurants.Becauseof

this,everyteammembershouldfeeleducatedandcapable

tohandleanyandalltaskscorrectlyandcompletely.

“Trainingempowersemployees,”saidWilliamWeichelt,

ServSafedirector.“Theyfeelapartoftheprocessanda

partofyourteam.Themoretrainingemployeesreceive,the

moretheyfeelvaluedandthemorelikelytheywillactas

brandambassadorsforyourrestaurants.”

Whiletraininginvolvesexpense,itsteersoffmuchlarger,

reactivecostsstemmingfromfoodborneillnessoutbreaks.

“Foodsafetypaysforitself,”saidKing.“Whenyouengraina

strongfoodsafetycultureintoyourbusiness,employeesare

morelikelytocomplywithprocedures.Youdon’tspendas

muchmoneyoninternalqualityrecalls,andyoudon’tlose

timeandsalesresultingfromthrowingoutaffectedprod-

uct.Youcanshowenhancedprofitmarginthroughpreven-

tion.”

Empower your teamFOOD SAFETY AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

A multiline entertainment

operation, Universal Studios

serves thousands of meals to

guests annually. Though exempt

from state food handler training

laws because of its union status, the

corporation has chosen to

implement food safety training

programs at its theme parks.

Brian Strasburger, learning and

organizational development

training manager at Universal

Studios Hollywood, feels food

safety training is the right thing

for foodservice businesses to do.

Managers and food handlers at the

California location’s 12 quickservice

restaurants, 12 kiosks and two

employee dining venues must

obtain ServSafe certification, in

addition to completing knife skills

and personal protection equipment

training. The company ingrains food

safety culture through a four-step

training method.

By making food safety a priority,

“We, as a company, have a greater

sense of confidence rolling out new

menu items or opening new venues.

It represents us as a first-class

organization,” said Strasburger.

CREATINGFOODSAFETYCULTURE

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Evaluating your culture

CREATINGFOODSAFETYCULTURE

NEED MORE INFORMATION?Ifyouareinterestedinlearningmoreaboutestablishingfoodsafetyculturewithinyourorganization,contactServSafe’sexpertsatServSafe@restaurant.org.

Haveyouprioritizedfoodsafetybyincorporatingit

intoyourrestaurant’sculture?Preventingfoodborne

illness—andthecostanoutbreakcanimposeon

yourbusiness—isnoshortorder.Whenimplementing

oranalyzingyourrestaurant’sfoodsafetystandards,

completethisexercise:

FIND YOUR SYSTEM

• Ismycurrentfoodsafetymanagementsystem

effective?Ifnot,whyisn’tit?

• Whattrainingcertificationprogramisthebestfitfor

myrestaurant?

• Wouldincorporatingcompany-specifictrainingbenefit

mystaffandcustomers?

SET THE STANDARD

• Areyouandotherseniorleadersexhibitingstrong

modelingbehavior?

• Doesyourtrainingmessaginguseconsistent

terminology?

• Doemployeesknowseniorleadershipwasinvolvedin

thetrainingdevelopmentprocess?

EMPOWER YOUR TEAM

• Doyouemphasizethevalueandpurposeoffoodsafety

trainingtoyourstaff?

• Areyouhighlightingtheimportanceoffoodsafetyon

individualandteamlevels?

• Doteammembers,inturn,feelconfidentintheirfood

safetyknowledge?

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Trust the programs that over 80% of restaurants use, ServSafe.

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© 2016 National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. All rights reserved. ServSafe® is a trademark of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. National Restaurant Association® and the arc design are trademarks of the National Restaurant Association.

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