53 replies to this topic

[onsolution]

I once attended the Fine Foods Trade Show in Sydney. We were demonstrating a hand washing training product that glows under UV (hopefully vague enough reference to pass the forum rules).

We had chefs do the test, restaurant owners, food scientists, the works.

Who were the worst? (i.e. had the dirtiest hands at the end). The chefs.

Who was the best? The plumber who was there to fix a fault in the bathroom.

Just a little anecdote to point out that sometimes the people who are up to their elbows in cr@p know about cleanliness.

And sometimes those that we would think would have it under control and the worst.


I also love the way that a good anecdote can beat statistics anyday.

[Charles.C]

Dear Onsolution,

Nice one. Of course it could equally imply that the testing method was biased.

Rgds / Charles.C

[KDuf]

Who was the best? The plumber who was there to fix a fault in the bathroom.

Just a little anecdote to point out that sometimes the people who are up to their elbows in cr@p know about cleanliness.

Agreed... I wash my hands quite a lot more thoroughly when I've been working on the car as opposed to washing my hands before eating.

[JohannesTrithemius]

I personally believe this is a leadership issue on behalf of the maintenance manager.

 

I can understand when things can get hectic, one can forget to wash their hands, but in day to day operations, it can be also a lack of motivation.

 

When a maintenance tech has a great idea, or can see a better way things can be improved (ex: going from paper to paperless),  but the maintenance manager is stubbornly set in their ways it can be very hard to change how things are run. Sure you can ask a tech to wash their hands, but if his/her boss doesn't care, that won't go very far at all.

 

Something like this is small and can be changed and enforced very quickly. It's as easy as the maintenance manager to send an email to his/her staff notifying them to comply with procedures, or else face disciplinary actions. Additionally, the maintenance manager is ultimately responsible for his/her employees, so if the manager cannot enforce procedure, that's the person who needs to be talked to. Another solution is recurrent training, even if it's for hand washing; if they think it's boring or don't feel like it, tell them if they regularly washed their hands they wouldn't be required to do it!

Edited by jamesthibault, 01 May 2019 - 01:24 PM.