The Human Factor

Prevention tools such as bilingual safety videos and germane literature compounded with many safety meetings will help keep injuries to a minimum. Safety committees should be organized, with quorums established, that include not only middle and upper management but also line workers, who know better than anyone the potential accidents, and, surprisingly, remedies.

A Review and Evaluation System

A review and evaluation system should be developed for each employee following the initial performance probation period and annually thereafter, clearly documenting areas he is doing well in as well as those that need more attention. Well-documented evaluations are a good barometer to measure employee progress. An objective criterion for increments and promotions should be based on acceptable or unacceptable job performances.

The employee evaluation should be tap-rooted in attendance, punctuality, conformity to company policies and procedures, quantity and quality of work performed and following company policies concerning worker safety. If an employee continues to fail in following declared company polices or has unacceptable productivity levels, the only alternative left is to apply discipline through well-documented paper trails of written and verbal warnings. The rouge employee who makes it through the hiring filter process can easily and lawfully be corralled through well defined disciplinary actions taken by management that were initially introduced during orientation. The final termination of any employee should come as no surprise to the employee being terminated because he had been warned (and documented) many times earlier.

Employees, like the employer, hold important responsibilities and should be held accountable to those responsibilities set by management. It should be made clear to all employees on their first day of employment, and reiterated repeatedly thereafter, that they have a responsibility to their assigned jobs while simultaneously being accountable for their actions or inactions.

Steve Sayer is a 25-year veteran of the beef industry and a food safety consultant for S and R Consulting (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) Reach him at steve_sayer_westland @yahoo.com.