Home > What does a strong food safety culture look like?

Strong leadership:

Who?

• Business owners, board members, general managers, site managers

What?

• Senior leaders show the way, openly commit to making safe food the top priority throughout your business

How?

• I make sure there is a regular meeting or get-together where we report and discuss our food safety performance
• I personally follow up on things we decided need to be done (e.g. assign time, people or money to specific tasks, make sure corrective actions are done).
• I review our food safety performance and budget with my team as part of our overall business performance at least once month.

Committed managers:

Who?

• Production managers, field supervisors, store supervisors, maintenance managers

What?

• Managers show their commitment to food safety through dedicating time and effort

How?

• I communicate and follow up on my expectation that all staff spend 10 minutes each week in team meetings discussing and solving our food safety challenges.
• I schedule and lead a regular event (e.g. team meeting, webinar, safety demonstration) where I personally speak to my teams about food safety.
• I make sure my leadership team discusses and acts on suggestions about improving food safety at least monthly.

Everyone contributes:

Who?

• Produce pickers, truck drivers, factory workers, shop assistants, restaurant waiters, as well as managers and senior leaders

What?

• Everyone in the business believes making safe food is important and everyone plays a part

How?

• I speak up and correct anyone’s behaviour if I see something wrong (if it goes against our food safety practices or principles).
• I offer suggestions I think could improve the business’s food safety performance.
• I ask questions if I don’t understand why food safety practices are changed.

Everyone’s accountable:

Who?

• All people at all levels in the business

What?

• Everyone understands that they are held responsible for ensuring food is safe

How?

• I understand my role and responsibilities in food safety and that if I do not take them seriously consumers could become ill or die and the business could be harmed.
• I help new colleagues and share my pride in what our business expects and achieves when it comes to food safety.

Knowing and acting:

Who?

• All people at all levels in the business

What?

• More than training people – making sure they know the risks and do the right thing, every time

How?

• I assign time and budget for staff to receive food safety training, as well as regular updates or refresher sessions.
• I make sure there is a plan for everybody to be involved in food safety observations (e.g. food temperature, equipment sanitation), so we are all checking that we know and do what is expected.
• I actively encourage and reward people/ teams who have shown a strong commitment to food safety.
• I always speak up and/or take action if I see something (e.g. a food safety observation) is wrong.

Continual improvement:

Who?

• All people at all levels in the business

What?

• Be proactive – monitor what goes on, look for ways to improve, prevent problems happening in the future

How?

• I discuss findings from food safety observations with my team at a pre-set and regular time so we can find better ways to do things and remove obstacles.
• I am encouraged to bring ideas about improving food safety to my supervisor and often do this.
• I see my supervisor and the business as a whole taking my comments and suggestions seriously. This makes me feel proud and valued.

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