5 Questions with Scott Jones, Director of North American Sales, Meritech

1. How do you cultivate a successful food safety culture within an organization?

A successful food safety culture must start at the top. There must be an element of leadership commitment which in turn allows the resources needed for communication, training, implementation, constant monitoring and always looking for ways to be even better. If leadership has a lackadaisical attitude, it will always trickle down throughout the company. Leadership participation in food safety training, promoting initiatives/practices and recognizing and rewarding behaviors is paramount.

2. What can impact a food safety culture? What are the biggest obstacles?

Human behavior is one of the hardest variables to control, but through education, training and properly designed hygiene zones, food safety can become second nature. Training shouldn’t be designed as a “Do this or else you are fired” approach; training should center around the “why” of food safety and empower employees to take pride in food safety.

3. How do visual cues and proper signage help with enforcing a food safety culture?

Signage and floor decals help inform employees of hygiene procedures, making those procedures a streamlined process. Knowing where to go and what do to makes safety compliance easy. It’s a lot of fun working with our customers to design hygiene zones and creating custom signage, and our handwashing stations serve as an excellent visual cue to the employee to wash their hands.

4. How can automation improve a food safety culture?

Automation can be used to make hygiene procedures easier and more efficient for employees, helping make the hygiene procedure habit “second nature.” Technologies such as automated handwashing stations, for instance, can assist with not only showing commitment to best practices, but most importantly provide the most efficient and effective results in your protocols. Having the right resources absolutely encourages the best behavior!

5. What are the benefits of a positive food safety culture?

A successful implementation of a food safety culture leads to improved compliance with regulations, enhanced brand reputation, increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, greater operational efficiencies — and of course, most importantly, reduced foodborne illness incidents!