What has happened to the plant sanitarian?

AIB just graduated a remarkable group of sanitarians in the Class of 2013—Management Development for the Food Safety and Sanitation Professional.

Local health departments still use the term sanitarian, but this job title seems to have largely gone by the wayside in food manufacturing. Given that food safety is based on maintaining sanitary conditions, I wonder if this trend is hurting the industry.

The role is not just someone who knows how to clean, but who understands the interrelationship of all of the prerequisite programs in maintaining a sanitary environment. When it comes to food safety, integration is what is often missing. For example, it may be an engineering issue that impedes a pest management program that ultimately introduces a microbiological hazard into a facility. Trying to solve just one of these elements alone will not fix the problem.

One only need look as far as the FDA Enforcement Reports and Recalls to see that lack of the plant-sanitarian mindset is a significant gap in the industry. These reports and recalls point to insanitary conditions as the root cause for the failures. Having someone on your team who understands the programs that need to be in place, how to monitor their effectiveness, and how to identify root-cause based solutions cannot be underestimated.

This role is even greater than sanitation manager. Sanitation managers are responsible for the cleaning and sanitation program. The plant sanitarian has insights and influence over multiple programs. This unique individual has knowledge about all the programs that contribute to or detract from a sanitary environment and the management and leadership skills to develop, implement, monitor, and improve those programs.

The food industry, like many other industries, has been tasked with doing more with less in recent years. This has led to the trend of piling additional responsibilities on fewer people. In the case of the plant sanitarian, these responsibilities are often added to existing positions such as quality manager or sanitation manager. However, this overload can mean sub-par performance and overlooked issues. If one were to make a simple calculation of the salary for a plant sanitarian and compare it to the cost of managing failures (e.g., fighting a microbial “hot spot” in the environment, investigating a foreign material finding, or employees standing around due to lack of coordination of sanitation, maintenance, and production) it would be clear that maintaining a skilled plant sanitarian is well worth the investment.

In addition to having the technical knowledge, the plant sanitarian is someone who is a true team player. This means he or she is effective in gaining input from others and influencing the team. The successful plant sanitarian treats others with respect and ensures the focus is on the success of the operation and the protection of the consumers.

I challenge you to evaluate your organizational structure and, if you don’t currently have a plant sanitarian, ask yourself if you have a missed opportunity. Have you had failures or near-misses that, if prevented, could have saved you time, money, and customers? If so, your facility is a prime candidate for a plant sanitarian, and this is a conversation you need to have with the management team sooner, rather than later.

The author is Vice President of Food Safety Education, AIB International.