Food Protection Trends - October 2008 - 704

ARTICLES Copyright© 2008, International Association for Food Protection 6200 Aurora Ave., Suite 200W, Des Moines, IA 50322-2864 Food Protection Trends, Vol. 28, No. 10, Pages 704–711 Employee Motivators for Following Food Safety Practices: Pivotal Role of Supervision SUSAN W. ARENDT1* and JEANNIE SNEED2 1 Apparel, Educational Studies, and Hospitality Management, Iowa State University, 9E MacKay Hall, Ames, IA 50011-1121, USA; 2College of Arts and Sciences, Research Support Services, Oklahoma State University, P.O. Box 1026, Stillwater, OK 74076-1026, USA INTRODUCTION SUMMARy Many college-age students work in the foodservice industry; thus, it is important to understand what motivates them to follow safe food handling practices.The purpose of this research was to develop a model to explain employee motivators for following safe food handling practices. Components of the expectancy theory were integrated into the study to explore retail foodservice employees’ motivators related to handwashing, wearing clean uniforms, cleaning and sanitizing, and measuring food temperatures. Questionnaires that included both openended and close-ended questions were distributed to 169 hospitality management students at one university. Analysis of open-ended questions through qualitative methods showed the pivotal role of supervisors through common themes: establishing policies and standards, expecting accountability, serving as role models, providing training, controlling rewards and punishment, and providing resources. A model focused on the pivotal role of the supervisor in motivating foodservice employees to follow good food safety practices was developed. A peer-reviewed article *Author for correspondence: 515.294.7575; Fax: 515.294.6364 E-mail: sarendt@iastate.edu Food safety is a global concern, with over two billion people each year affected by foodborne illnesses (40). Known foodborne disease outbreaks have been caused by foods served in retail foodservice operations, including restaurants, hospitals, schools, and nursing homes (4). The US Food and Drug Administration (12) reported the three major areas for non-compliance in food handling as poor personal hygiene, incorrect time and temperature control, and contaminated equipment resulting in inadequate prevention of contamination. Although training appears to be an important component of food safety, training alone does not ensure implementation of safe food handling practices that result in safe food. A gap exists between food handling practices and knowledge (17). Understanding employees’ motivators for following food safety behaviors, especially those related to the key areas of noncompliance, is important. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to: (1) identify factors that would motivate foodservice employees to follow safe food handling practices, (2) examine college-age students’ perceptions of foodservice employees’ motivation for 704 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | OCTOBER 2008

Food Protection Trends - October 2008

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