Gaining commitment to a food safety plan

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Gaining commitment to a food safety plan

Arizona Environmental Health Association
May 19-20, 2009 Tempe, AZ Dale A. Grinstead,
Ph.D. Food Safety Technology Fellow JohnsonDiverse
y
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What are we going to talk about?

• Why is commitment to a food safety plan
  important?
• How to gain commitment to a food safety plan.
• Management level
• Operator level

The hen supports breakfast, the pig is
committed. Anon.
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Why is commitment to a food safety plan
important?

• Why does food borne illness occur?

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.
Francis Bacon
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What Causes food borne illness?

• Microorganisms (Duh)

To spell out the obvious is often to call it in
question. Eric Hoffer
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FDA and CDC both say that the leading causes of
food borne illness are

• Temperature abuse (under cooking, improper
  holding temps, etc)
• Poor personal hygiene
• Cross contamination
• Often it is a combination of factors that result
  in food borne illnesses

The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as
the sole cause of all our adversities.   
Sophocles
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Example 1

• Problem A beverage plant had high counts in
  their finished product.

Quality is remembered long after the price is
forgotten. Gucci Family Slogan
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Example 1

• Problem A beverage plant had unacceptably high
  counts in their finished product.
• Cause the filler valves were not being contacted
  by the cleaner and sanitizer.

There are no shortcuts to any place worth
going. Publilius Syrus
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Filler
One picture is worth a thousand words Fred R.
Barnard
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Example 1

• Problem A beverage plant had unacceptably high
  counts in their finished product.
• Cause the filler valves were not being contacted
  by the cleaner and sanitizer.
• Solution Use filler cups during CIP to ensure
  adequate chemical contact.

There is always a way to go if you look for it.
Ernest A. Fitzgerald
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Example 2

• Problem A very small flavor syrup manufacture
  had bottles of syrup exploding in warehouse
  shelves.

Quality begins on the inside... and then works
its way out. Bob Moawad
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Example 2

• Problem A very small flavor syrup manufacture
  had bottles of syrup exploding in warehouse
  shelves.
• Cause Zygosacchromyces in the finished product
  because the production lines were not properly
  cleaned before sanitizing.

Even the woodpecker owes its success to the fact
that he used his head. Source Unknown
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Example 2

• Problem A very small flavor syrup manufacture
  had bottles of syrup exploding in warehouse
  shelves.
• Cause Zygosacchromyces in the finished product
  because the production lines were not properly
  cleaned before sanitizing.
• Solution A program of regular cleaning and a
  sign off system for the production managers was
  implemented.

Good men prefer to be accountable. Michael
Edwardes
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Real World Example 3

• Problem Unacceptably high TVC in hamburger at a
  beef processor.

The minute you settle for less than you deserve,
you get even less than you settled for. Maureen
Dowd
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Real World Example 3

• Problem Unacceptably high TVC in hamburger at a
  meat processor.
• Cause A new cleaner made surfaces visibly clean
  with less scrubbing so biofilms grew on
  equipment.

Work is victory. Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Real World Example 3

• Problem Unacceptably high TVC in hamburger at a
  meat processor.
• Cause A new cleaner made surfaces visibly clean
  with less scrubbing so biofilms grew on
  equipment.
• Solution return to proper level of hand
  scrubbing used before the new cleaning chemical
  was introduced.

Hard work has made it easy. That is my secret.
That is why I win. Nadia Comaneci
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What causes food borne illness?

• Process failures
• not a chemistry failure
• not a resistance issue
• generally not an equipment problem
• Food borne illness is almost always caused by a
  failure to do the right thing properly. The
  failure is almost always a HUMAN failure!

Men are more important than tools. If you don't
believe so, put a good tool into the hands of a
poor workman. John J. Bernet
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Why are there human failures?

• Generally not maliciousness or intent (nobody
  wants a failure, the costs are too high)
• Lack of understanding of the true cost and risk
  of food borne illness.
• Tight production schedules
• Poor training
• Poor motivation

My great concern is not whether you have failed,
but whether you are content with your failure.
Abraham Lincoln
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Remember where we were headed with this!

• Why is food worker commitment to food safety
  programs important?
• If the cause of food borne illness is usually
  human failure
• Then the solution is to fix the humans.
• Changing behavior requires commitment.
• Therefore commitment to a food safety plan is
  critical!

Unless commitment is made, there are only
promises and hopes... but no plans. Peter
Drucker
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So how do we get that commitment?

• The answer depends on who you want the commitment
  from.
• Priorities vary for different groups so how you
  gain their commitment varies too.
• We will break the world down into two groups.
  Management and everyone else.

Focus 90 of your time on solutions and only 10
of your time on problems. . Anthony J. DAngelo
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What do we want people to be committed to?

• What we really need is commitment to some ideas
• Cutting food safety corners will not save time or
  money and generally the risk outweighs the
  benefit
• The tools to prevent food borne illness are
  already available, they just need to be used
  properly.
• That all people who are involved in the food
  chain have an impact (for good or bad) on food
  safety

Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If
your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them
down people's throats. Howard Aiken
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Management

• Production is king and CS and food safety tends
  to suffer.
• Nothing happens unless they are truly on board
  and committed.
• This can be the most difficult group to motivate
  because food safety and associated activities is
  generally not their priority

The productivity of work is not the
responsibility of the worker but of the
manager. Peter F. Drucker
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Management commitment the carrot

• Food safety is good for business
• To be more precise poor food safety is really
  really bad for business
• Properly implemented and followed food safety
  programs are as important to a business as fire
  insurance
• Is food safety a marketable benefit?

Anybody can cut prices, but it takes brains to
produce a better article. P. D. Armour
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Food safety is good for business
Haste in every business brings failures.
Herodotus
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Management commitment the stick

• State and local government
• Health departments
• Federal agencies (FDA, EPA, USDA)
• Customers

If men were angels, no government would be
necessary. James Madison
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Operator

• Often the lowest paid employee
• Least trained employee
• Highest turnover
• CS and other food safety responsibilities can be
  seen as a punishment duty

You cannot raise a man up by calling him down.
William Boetcker
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Operator commitment The carrot

• Ownership
• What they should do.
• Increased responsibility
• Pride
• What they do is critical for consumers of their
  employers products.
• What they do is critical for the company.
• Improved job security
• Incentivise performance

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day
in and day out... Robert Collier
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Operator commitment the stick

• Tie performance to job retention
• Tie performance to promotion and advancement

Ability is what you're capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do. Attitude
determines how well you do it. Lou Holtz
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We live and we learn

• Key to gaining commitment to food safety for
  management and operators is education.
• Management needs to be educated about the
  importance and business risk/benefit ratios
  associated with food safety.
• Operators need to be educated about the value of
  what they do and be given ownership of their
  roles by being fully trained in them.

Being born smart is nothing to be proud ofthat
just takes luck. Now an education...that is
something to take pride in. That takes hard
work. Lester Reams (my Grandfather)
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How do we educate someone?

• The individual must see the need to learn
• The knowledge must be acquired
• The education should be hands on with
  opportunities to practice and receive feedback
• The student performs the tasks and receives
  supervision and more feedback

Education is what survives when what has been
learned has been forgotten B.F. Skinner
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Dont do it all yourself

• Where to Obtain Materials
• Developed In-House
• Govt/University
• Trade Associations
• Suppliers

If I have seen further, it is by standing on the
shoulders of giants Isaac Newton
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What was that again?

• Food safety failures are people failures!
• People will only learn and change if they are
  committed to it and motivated
• How you motivate people and gain their commitment
  will change depending on the role of the people
  you are trying to motivate.
• Education is critical to motivating people

Any ideas, plan, or purpose may be placed in the
mind through repetition of thought Napolean
Hill
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Final Thoughts

• Having said all that I will now tell you the real
  secret to motivating people, gaining commitment,
  and having a successful training program...

Make sure you have finished speaking before your
audience has finished listening. Dorothy
Sarnoff
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Bring Donuts!!!