Strategies for Hand Hygiene Effectiveness
In our second blog this month, the topic of hand hygiene continues (and really, it should never go away!) with a focus on strategies to achieve in a foodservice operation. Numerous studies, and likely your own observations, have concluded that efforts to wash hands will depend on the amount of time available, ease in accessing handwashing sinks and supplies, and structure of work tasks. There is no question that the foodservice work setting can be chaotic, especially during peak meal times. While there is a tendency for managers to continually push for greater output in less time, we suggest those in charge of a foodservice take a step back and take a look at how employees are completing tasks. Maybe some coaching with them on taking a few minutes to get organized and plan how and when tasks will be completed can result in the need for less handwashing and greater productivity, which will result in them feeling more energetic as there is less “spinning of wheels” and more mindful actions. Managers might consider a strategy called “swarm scheduling”, which involves multiple team members in a concerted effort to complete a job more quickly and require fewer handwashing occasions than when one person was tasked with multiple transactions. Here is one example, which is available in a video version on the Iowa State University Food Safety Project site as part of a USDA project called Do Your PART.
Job:
Make 100 sandwiches consisting of bread, meat and cheese slice, lettuce and tomato.
Plan:
Prepare mise en place (chef’s term for everything in its place) by taking bread from packages and stacking in pans, combining meat and cheese slices into portions and stacking in pan on ice, and pre-assembling lettuce leaf and tomato slices in portions in pan on ice. Each person has a designated pre-prep task, or one person completes in sequence with pans of cold foods held in refrigeration. When all preps completed, set up assembly line.
Assembly:
The swarm of workers each has designated role with one assigned only to supply the line with additional pans of prepped ingredients as needed and take prepared sandwiches to holding unit when tray completed.
Without the team approach, the sole person assigned to the task of making the sandwiches would have multiple handwashing and glove change occasions because of having to supply the line and store completed product (remember the refrigerator door handles are a high touch point).
The team approach can also be used throughout the work day. Help employees think in terms of “clean” and “dirty” and encourage them to help each other out. For instance, in front of house, assign some employees the job only of clearing tables (dirty) and others the task of only serving food and beverages (clean). In the dish room, one person loads soiled dishware and another unloads clean items and stores.
During the SafeBites Webinar earlier this week, some training ideas were presented along with other strategies. The webinar is archived in case you missed the original presentation.
Safe food is dependent upon good hand hygiene, which means employees need to wash hands when and how they should, and change gloves as needed to avoid contamination of foods. These actions mitigate the risk of foodborne illnesses. Risk Nothing!
Getting Started with Building the Infrastructure
Hopefully in our first January blog, we convinced you of the importance of establishing an infrastructure within your operation to support a safe food culture. So, how does one go about doing this? Well, like any major project, break it into small bites. In our opinion, having a written guide for employees that documents expectations related to food safety basics of employee health and hygiene, temperature controls, and cleaning and sanitizing is the first step. Having this documentation serves as a reference for training and helps fulfill the mission of most foodservice operators which is to serve safe, quality food.
Food Safety Resolutions for the New Year
Finally, 2020 is in our rearview mirror and we can all turn the page to 2021! Resolutions for the new year might be more of the same from prior years (lose weight, exercise more, less screen time, etc.) OR you may have identified new practices to implement in your operation. If the latter, likely goals included some practices related to food safety – especially given the turmoil of 2020 and heightened concern by customers. It is our philosophy that attention to safe food handling practices is a win-win for any operation because of the direct relationship between food safety and food quality, which in turn leads to customer satisfaction. This past year has also demonstrated that attention to safety can affect the bottom line. Thus, the topic of our first SafeBites webinar for 2021 is on the topic of the return on investment of food safety, it is scheduled for January 20, so register now and please plan to attend.
To Toss or Not to Toss? That is the question.
Our first blog for the month emphasized the basic safe food practices needed to keep you and your guests healthy (and happy!), especially during these times of COVID. The impact of foodborne illness can range from an uncomfortable few days to hospitalization or death. Foodborne illness IS preventable and the steps taken to keep food safe also maintain quality of food, and ultimately profitability. Think of attention to food safety as part of quality control and a win-win business strategy. Knowledge about food safety can be helpful when controlling costs as making wise decisions when determining the fate of unserved food can affect the bottom line.
Holiday Food Safety Controls
In case you have not noticed - the holidays are here! We have seen store decorations up since mid-September and early bird deals advertised for several weeks, stretching the typical Black Friday deals throughout the month as retailers strive to ensure market share, while following increasingly stringent mandates for physical distancing
