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How would you rate the food safety culture in your workplace?

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Poll: How would you rate the food safety culture in your workplace? (805 member(s) have cast votes)

How would you rate the food safety culture in your workplace?

  1. -3 (Appalling) (45 votes [5.59%])

    Percentage of vote: 5.59%

  2. -2 (61 votes [7.58%])

    Percentage of vote: 7.58%

  3. -1 (89 votes [11.06%])

    Percentage of vote: 11.06%

  4. Voted 0 (92 votes [11.43%])

    Percentage of vote: 11.43%

  5. Voted +1 (259 votes [32.17%])

    Percentage of vote: 32.17%

  6. +2 (213 votes [26.46%])

    Percentage of vote: 26.46%

  7. +3 (Exceptional) (46 votes [5.71%])

    Percentage of vote: 5.71%

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* * * * - 3 votes

Zahid Sarfraz1

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Posted 06 August 2018 - 09:31 AM

Quality is everyone responsibility.... Food safety culture always appeal for improvement. Its a continuous process



Zahid Sarfraz1

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Posted 06 August 2018 - 09:32 AM

Its also depends upon the commitment of top management...which is the lost important factor



JimM

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Posted 09 August 2018 - 09:03 AM

New to the site here.

 

I gave us a +1.

 

We are a wholesale produce company in California Bay Area.

 

It has been a long arduous task for about 6+ years where I have even stepped out of the Food Safety for some time.

 

I unfortunately have to grind on the crew but slowly it has taken shape. Our biggest problem (and one I see others have) is upper management.

 

For those of you struggling, keep your chin up.

 

Jim



ruzelle

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Posted 28 August 2018 - 09:43 AM

Food Safety in our company in non-negotiable. Though not perfect, we adopt in our system the international framework for food safety such as FSSC 4.1, and some ISO standards. It's a continuous process and everyone responsibilities. 



Peta

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Posted 28 August 2018 - 08:38 PM

After our ownership and name change we've slid a little. They came in saying you don't need to do this, or that, really sucked the wind out of our sail. 



JimM

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Posted 31 August 2018 - 05:05 AM

After our ownership and name change we've slid a little. They came in saying you don't need to do this, or that, really sucked the wind out of our sail. 

OUCH!! That is not good. I must say the owners want minimal involvement (just dont understand they need to be involved) and rely on myself and the team to handle the situations.

Good luck with your situation.

 

Jim



Brendan Triplett

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Posted 11 September 2018 - 10:24 AM

I ran with a +1 on this because we are literally in the infancy of getting our food safety programs off of the ground.  having worked with several larger companies I have some experience but the biggest challenges that I have faced so far come from employee "buy-in" and program creation from nothing.  Smaller companies often face this challenge because they are able to fly under the radar and go longer than the larger companies when it comes to getting food safety protocols under control.  Consider what is happening with the FDA and their visitation right now.  Large companies are getting hit and being told to make themselves 100% compliant with new FSMA and other rulings.  Smaller companies are being given a lot of leeway and a lot of time to get themselves under control.  I worry that some of these companies will get top these programs too late and will ultimately be in trouble.  Food safety and third party audits are the way of the future.  it is best to get on board now and at least start the programs.  Something small is better than nothing at all.


Vice President and SQF Practitioner in Pennsylvania
Brendan Triplett


PollyKBD

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Posted 18 September 2018 - 06:16 PM

For those asking how to convince veterans or new hires, the answer is ownership. Probably another hot management term, but we throw around the phrase ownership as much as we do culture and it seems to work. We are producing "our best product" taking pride in what we do. We live by our standards.

I have a few new hires ask about things like jewelry and having things in pockets and wearing headphones, those things were all in the videos, but sometimes, in other companies, training videos are just that, something to say they trained new hires, and then the videos are left at the door and forgotten. Some places of employment don't care. When I introduce myself, I tell them I'm the person responsible for all of those boring videos they just watched and explain how important their role is to my role. Ask them if they have questions, let them know I'm available. Live by example. 

I consider it a relationship between us (food safety) and them (those that are carrying it out), I try not to police, I try to engage. It seems to work. 

Sure we did some reminding and deep cleaning before our audit, but no one acted out of the ordinary and everyone was proud of the score we achieved. They knew they played a part in that and I, as the food safety person, reminded them and thanked them all. 

They own all of our successes and our failures. We are lucky to have a crew that cares. They hold themselves and each other accountable. Heck, they hold me and our bosses accountable when needed. 

That is our culture. 



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Hreddy

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Posted 17 October 2018 - 06:21 AM

Thanks Mr. Simon for the poll, Its good to know where we stand in the Food industry as Global prospective and better chance for further improvement.



Everlast85

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Posted 17 November 2018 - 05:18 PM

I believe its 0 but, its a 24/7 operation. I can only assess what I see. We  have a ISO 22000 surveillance coming up, so I am trying to ahead of any potential issues. I am new here and any help navigating through any documents will be very helpful, thanks!



clend

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Posted 19 November 2018 - 03:54 PM

I'd rate us as a 0, but I think I was hired to move us in a positive direction, because there are people in the company who recognize that we need to change and improve. The problem in convincing the rest of the management team and executives of this.

 

Does anyone know of any sort of online assessment I could have everyone take, that measures our company's attitude towards food safety?

 

Thanks!



sevilay

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Posted 07 December 2018 - 07:36 PM

A positive food safety culture mitigates the risk of a foodborne illness and food safety incidents.  Research supports that the most important factors for developing a food safety culture are senior leadership and management commitment and worker food safety behaviors.  If leadership/management creates a work environment that encourages proactive food safety behavior and food safety culture, the plant teams will be encouraged to demonstrate proactive food safety behavior.  Consistency by senior leaders and management commitment plays a key role in setting the example for the plant employees to follow.  Have you ever wondered why some people do the right thing all the time and others only when their supervisors are watching them?  Food safety culture is a shared attitude by all employees (leadership, managers and team members), especially with new employees who will tend to follow the dominant behaviors found in the facility. 

 

Yiannas, F. (2009). In Frank Yiannas. (Ed.), Food safety culture creating a behavior-based food safety management system. New York: Springer, c2009.  2. Assessing Factors Contributing to Food Safety Culture in Retail Food Establishments; http://www.foodprote...Aug-12-Neal.pdf.  This is a good reference on food safety culture, it is geared towards retail but the principles are universal. 3. Article by Lone Jespersen. Food Safety Culture: Measure What You Treasure:  https://foodsafetyte...t-you-treasure/ 4. Article by By Geoff Schaadt, Creating a Culture of Food Safety: http://www.foodsafet...of-food-safety/ 5. Best Practices for Building a Food Safety Culture; http://pgpro.com/web...safety-culture/ 6. How to Create Food Safety Culture With Your Teams:  http://www.foodproce...eams/?show=all 



sevilay

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Posted 07 December 2018 - 07:37 PM

A positive food safety culture mitigates the risk of a foodborne illness and food safety incidents.  Research supports that the most important factors for developing a food safety culture are senior leadership and management commitment and worker food safety behaviors.  If leadership/management creates a work environment that encourages proactive food safety behavior and food safety culture, the plant teams will be encouraged to demonstrate proactive food safety behavior.  Consistency by senior leaders and management commitment plays a key role in setting the example for the plant employees to follow.  Have you ever wondered why some people do the right thing all the time and others only when their supervisors are watching them?  Food safety culture is a shared attitude by all employees (leadership, managers and team members), especially with new employees who will tend to follow the dominant behaviors found in the facility. 

 

Yiannas, F. (2009). In Frank Yiannas. (Ed.), Food safety culture creating a behavior-based food safety management system. New York: Springer, c2009.  2. Assessing Factors Contributing to Food Safety Culture in Retail Food Establishments; http://www.foodprote...Aug-12-Neal.pdf.  This is a good reference on food safety culture, it is geared towards retail but the principles are universal. 3. Article by Lone Jespersen. Food Safety Culture: Measure What You Treasure:  https://foodsafetyte...t-you-treasure/ 4. Article by By Geoff Schaadt, Creating a Culture of Food Safety: http://www.foodsafet...of-food-safety/ 5. Best Practices for Building a Food Safety Culture; http://pgpro.com/web...safety-culture/ 6. How to Create Food Safety Culture With Your Teams:  http://www.foodproce...eams/?show=all 



fcavaco

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Posted 05 April 2019 - 07:59 AM

Culture must begin as a child in the family and at school. Therefore, to significantly improve the behavior of manipulators the state should invest more in education.
On the other hand, if driving a car requires a driving license, why not institute something similar for food handlers?


The Food Scientist

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Posted 05 April 2019 - 07:22 PM

Culture, whether its food safety or anything else, should start from the top! Also, the smaller the company, the easier it is to change culture. 


Everything in food is science. The only subjective part is when you eat it. - Alton Brown.


zanorias

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Posted 05 April 2019 - 08:01 PM

If only the people at the top were as interested in food safety as they are in commercial profit, would make our jobs a lot easier



Sweet'n'low

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Posted 02 May 2019 - 07:56 PM

If only the people at the top were as interested in food safety as they are in commercial profit, would make our jobs a lot easier

I think this explains it very well. 

 

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