If the words “seasonal worker” make you cringe, you may be the manager of a restaurant or foodservice business.
It’s that time of year, when consumers increasingly eat out rather than cooking at home, whether because they are out shopping, they want to save time, or they simply want to celebrate with friends and family. Although this year’s holiday season is winding down, there’s still plenty of “holidaying” left, and plenty of opportunity to get a surge from the 63% of adults planning to eat out and 48% intending to order takeout or delivery over the holidays.
To contend with the increase, one survey found that 44% of retail/foodservice businesses planned to hire new workers to provide additional support or make up for a lack of specific skills needed to support seasonal demand. However, 61% also said that this year’s talent pool isn’t as skilled and experienced as in previous years.
It doesn’t take a lot of figuring to realize that the increase in customers coupled with a lack of experienced workers is likely to have a negative impact on food safety. So, what is a manager to do?
With studies showing that foodborne illness is linked to eating outside the home and that food worker food safety behaviors are often lacking, a study by the CDC found that many workers said they engaged in risky food prep practices with younger, less experienced workers most often doing so.
Some of the key behaviors at issue were:
- Gloves: When touching ready-to-eat food: more than half of workers did not always wear gloves.
- Handwashing: Between touching raw meat and poultry and touching ready-to-eat food: About one-fourth did not always wash their hands, and 1/3 did not always change their gloves.
- Thermometer use: When cooking food: Just over half did not usually use a thermometer to check for doneness.
- Illness: About 5% had worked while they had vomiting or diarrhea.
New hires often have so much to learn that food safety can end up somewhere well below memorizing the menu, remembering customer orders, and getting things to the right table at the right time. But knowing the top issues is half the battle, and it’s not too late – especially if any of the newer workers will be staying on past the season.
A first step is determining if your workers are negligent in any food safety behaviors. While it is human nature to toe the line when being observed, ensuring that your managers are regularly visible and keeping an eye on behaviors at all times will reduce that tendency. In fact, the busiest times can be the best times to catch lapses as that is when short cuts are most likely to be taken, but that makes them no less susceptible to inadvertent contamination or other issues. Lapses should be addressed when they occur, as the worker may not realize they are erring or understand the importance of the behavior.
Regularly retraining the entire team – seasonal as well as long-term workers – on food safety behaviors is also essential. Using shift changes or slower times throughout the year to hold even a brief discussion on the “why” as well as the “what” of proper behavior can go a long way toward compliance.
Food safety is likely not your staff’s first thought when customer lines are extending out the door, so making food safety an inherent culture in your establishment will help to keep your customers – and your brand – safe during the holiday season and throughout the year.
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