Auditing Glove Use
Most food workers know the basics of glove use, but the real question is “What do they actually do?” We recommend that managers/supervisors take time to audit glove use practices in their operation. This is a way to check that staff are doing what they are supposed to be doing to keep the food safe by using gloves correctly.
FoodHandler® has a glove audit form on their website that you could use for making these observations. This form could be used on a quarterly basis to document the good behaviors (catch people doing things right!) and to identify corrective actions needed.
Audit Managerial Practices
The first step is to make sure employees have the tools they need. Start by checking whether or not you are providing the gloves that workers need. Ask yourself:
- Are there appropriate sizes of gloves available for your staff?
- Is there more than one type of glove available (nitrile, vinyl, etc.)? Some employees may have sensitivities to one type of glove, but not to another. Also, there are more and more states banning the use of latex gloves in foodservice because of latex allergies.
- Are gloves located in the work stations where needed? Make it easy for food workers to follow the standard operating procedures for glove use.
- Is there a glove dispensing system that protects gloves from contamination? These systems are convenient and cost effective, and they reduce opportunities for gloves to become contaminated. Check out our FoodHandler OneSafe® dispensers if you haven’t already.
Audit Employee Glove Use Practices
Now you can observe food workers in their daily activities to determine actual glove-use practices. Pick a typical day of operations. If you plan to compare audits over time, then choose a consistent day with the same menu. There are a few other suggestions for use of the audit on the form. General observation points include:
- Are employees always wearing gloves when handling ready-to-eat foods?
- Are they changing gloves between tasks?
- Are new gloves being used when returning to work stations?
- Are gloves always worn over bandages on hands?
- Are gloves changed at least once every four hours if one continuous task is being performed?
- Are workers washing hands properly before putting on gloves?
- Are gloves removed from the dispenser one at a time?
- Are gloves handled only by the cuff?
- Are gloves removed from hands and boxes properly to minimize contamination?
New employees need to be trained on expectations for glove use. Managers can make observations of glove use on a continual basis and make adjustments as needed. Some staff may need reminders of proper use or a manager may discover certain types or sizes of gloves are used more frequently. Managers can use this information as a performance indicator (see our blog in May with some tools about KPIs or key performance indicators). Management by walking around lets you as the person in charge know what is really happening in your operations. Risk Nothing!
Handling Leafy Green Salad
We have had several produce outbreaks of foodborne disease from our lettuce, spinach, and other greens in the last several years that have been devastating to the produce growers and distributors, retail grocery stores, restaurants, and consumers.
Food Packaging Safety in a Vacuum
Extending the shelf life of fresh foods has come a long way in the food industry since curing meats with salt and sugar or canning vegetables with heat processing. The food service and consumer markets needed some better visual packages to draw the eye to the freshness factor and the technology of food packaging has filled our dinner plate. Vacuum packaging and modified atmosphere packaging, shortened to “MAP”, are the terms used for the method of food packaging used every time we choose convenience over more complex scratch meal preparation. According to industry statistics, billions of packages of vacuum and MAP-packaged foods flood the marketplace today. In both modified-atmosphere and vacuum packaging, food is packaged in a pouch made of barrier film.
The Eleven Commandments of Food Safety at Your Restaurant
Lists help us remember all kinds of information. Given the list of recent national foodborne outbreaks in the news, keep repeating this list to your food service team. They are kind of like “commandments”. As a professional in a food service facility we should think of the very basic food safety concepts that every crew member should aspire to learn, even though this list may have different priorities based on your menu. The first 3 apply to anyone who serves food, from a bag of popcorn to a full course meal. As chefs or managers, if we can “set the example” by repeating good food safety practices visibly to the crew, it will help them understand how important it is to the success of your facility. Thou shalt:
The Worst Customer Complaint: Foodborne Illness
Food service managers and crew try to follow the rules of food protection. Yet, occasionally a complaint may arise and these calls take priority over all other daily crises. If you have been in the food service industry long enough, you may have gotten one of these. A customer may claim, "I think your food made me ill." These words inflict instant anxiety. If it happens, here are some next steps to think about in advance of such a claim:
