Ensure Food Safety Through Pre-employment Screening

One, note the applicant’s appearance. A potential employee who arrives for an interview on time, appropriately dressed, and neatly groomed is more likely to take his or her job seriously. The application itself can provide an indication of the pride an individual takes in himself. An application with several omissions of information may mean the employee is not willing to give complete information, is not willing to accept directions, or cannot read. It may also be an indication of the applicant’s honesty.

Review the applicant’s work history and make a note of any gaps between jobs or overlaps in jobs. These are areas to follow up on during an interview. Determine why these gaps occurred. Inconsistencies should be noted and followed up on during an interview.

Consider the frequency with which the applicant has changed jobs and the reasons behind the changes. Follow up during an interview to determine why these moves occurred. The answers to these questions may provide insight into the person’s ability to follow directions, accept constructive feedback, get along with others, work with the public, and be a team player.

Review the application for any “red flags” or information that does not seem to make sense. Pay attention to how the applicant listens during the interview. “Someone who cuts off your every sentence or is staring off into space may have difficulty paying attention on the job,” warns Summers.

Education a Preventive Tool

Minimizing the occurrence of foodborne illness risk factors in a food service or retail food operation does not happen by accident. Hiring is the first of many steps in ensuring that an employee is performing competently and in a manner that does not compromise the safety of the food service operation.

Employee education is the key to reducing the risk of deliberate or non-intentional contamination. “Human resource managers should work alongside food service managers to provide a staffing and education plan that prevents any sabotage of the food supply—be it the result of toxic chemicals and pesticides, uninvited visitors, human or rodent—security breaches, unsafe water supplies, or personal injury,” says Summers.

In his role as director of quality control, Marinello takes this concept one step further. “It is management’s responsibility to create an environment where sanitation and food safety are an ingrained part of the workplace culture. These principles should be as important to the operation as the quality of the food or customer service.

“Management should be evaluated on the quality of the training programs they provide to all—and especially to new employees,” he adds. “Employees will take their cue from their managers. Programs can range from a simple reinforcement of hand washing techniques to more complex activities that simulate a natural disaster or large-scale bacterial outbreak.”

Food Defense Plans

To ensure the safety of the food they provide, many food processors, distributors, and retail outlets have begun to implement “food defense plans” that require the implementation of control measures designed to reduce the risk of contamination from a number of different sources. Briefly, these plans provide intensive employee training around issues related to personnel security, physical security and storage, transportation security, security of incoming products and supplies, safety of water and ice, and implementation of the facility’s crisis management plan.

Nelken believes that one potentially dangerous paradigm involving the identification, disposal, and storage of toxic materials must be changed. “Most food service workers and their managers are not familiar with the cleaning and disposal practices of their pest management and cleaning contractors, because the contractors often arrive in the middle of the night,” he says. “Rat poison looks very much like flour. If the pest removal company comes in from 2 to 3 a.m. and mistakenly leaves rat poison out and open, an unsuspecting cook or pantry worker can easily mistake it for flour. In another case, a cleaning contractor was using the pot washing sink to rinse out the toxic chemicals used to clean the steam kettle.”