5 Checks and Balances for Building and Maintaining your Food Safety Culture

It is easy to get hung up on the minutiae of designing and executing a Food Safety Culture plan; but there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Do not confuse a food safety program with a food safety culture. Remember a food safety plan deals with keeping food safe, while food safety culture deals with building a positive attitude about food safety within the operation.
• A food safety culture reflects attitudes and behaviors by all employees, not only those who carry out food safety practices. Every employee’s awareness and attention will be the key to reducing food safety issues and increasing positive food safety culture communication.
• A commitment to Food Safety Culture by senior management not only demonstrates a company value, it serves as a constant example for employees to follow. Employees will model the behavior of the employees above and around them.
• Use open lines of communication between management and employees to establish trust so that employees feel empowered to speak up if they have safety concerns. Line level employees need to know there will be no repercussions if they do speak up.
• Strive for behavior-based approaches rather than system-based steps when evaluating employee performance. While processes can and should be put in place to enhance food safety, food safety culture is a way of thinking and believing in always trying to do the right thing.