Upper
management may have commitment (HR support, Capital expenditures, Participation
in audits, etc) and the staff have the commitment (seen through the willingness
to send you reports on things like foreign material that was caught during
production or by washing their hands without being nagged), but without the
front line managers involvement, the food safety program can been seen as not
integrated into the daily operations or daily non-conformances to policy and
procedures. Commitment is essential for the establishment and integration of
food safety in any food processing facility.
What is
Front line management doing and showing for their part of management commitment
to food safety? The lack of front line commitment includes
paperwork (supervisor audits) not being completed, poor attitude being given to
the FSM and QA/QC staff, the general excuse of I did not see the issue, or the
“but this audit is getting in the way of us producing” being given. Note, Food safety vs productivity is NOT an
“and/or” situation, it must be seen as two sides of the same coin. So, how do we get the front line
managers/supervisors to commit to food safety when they see their major role as
produce – produce - produce?
The first
step to change this, and to create an effective food safety culture is to make the front line management aware of the necessity for giving
them responsibility for food safety (this includes getting their input). Awareness through telling them about the need
for commitment, training, and completion of audits such as daily GMPs are great
ways to accomplish this first step. It
can be scary and off putting for the front line managers if you outright tell
them that they lack commitment to food safety (this does depend on the company and
involved). Some may be fine
with the bluntness, some will react by finding excuses and generally digging in
their heels. As a FSM you will need to
be prepared to deal with this type of conflict.
Remember, the underlying reason is to foster food safety awareness and
commitment on a daily basis. As creatures of habit the daily commitment will
become habit and ingrained into the managers and staff.
The next
step is to foster the awareness and commitment by placing a KPI in place, for example,
GMP completion rates by individual managers. Basically the more GMP audits being completed
the more management is looking at the facility conditions and correcting issues
and behaviors. The higher completion rates equal higher attention to food
safety (neat little canary in the coal mine scenario- isn’t it?). Other KPIs
for front line managers could be % training completion. You will get a sense of
where your commitment is through the measured results of the KPIs. As stated above, this commitment is
fundamental to establishing the SQF program or any GFSI / food safety scheme in
general. I will even go a bit further and say attaining Management commitment
is fundamental the effective food safety integration into daily food processing
activities. That is the goal and you will need a plan. The plan is how you get
there in the short term and long term:
- Kick off meeting to get initial buy-in. Be blunt if you can, but definitely give the management team an honest state of the union speech.
- Set KPIs –if you cannot measure, how do you know where you are or what you are doing?
- Set a time line –short term and long term.
- Hold people accountable for their part of the program.
- Making needed resources available –HR, structural, Food Safety, whatever is found to be required.
- Adjust and build as you go.
The
above is a positive proactive approach to fostering commitment to food
safety. Unfortunately there will come a
time when an employee or manager is unwilling to commit or comply with the food
safety policies and procedures. At these
times another method may need to be used.
Progressive discipline and the company’s willingness to let a person
explore other opportunities should be considered. Sometimes it is better to cut off a rotten
branch to save the tree.
