The Top Ten List for Handling a Foodborne Illness Crisis

1. Know it when you see it.

The single greatest risk that a restaurant group faces is not knowing that a medical crisis is taking place. One restaurant in a large, national organization was fourteen days into a Salmonella outbreak before their corporate offices were notified. And this could have happened in nearly any restaurant group.

Set simple guidelines for when a situation needs crisis response: When the health department, an employee, a personal physician or multiple patrons calls about a possible foodborne illness or contagious disease, crisis response protocols should be implemented.

2. Decide in advance whom to call and when.

Some organizations have system for direct reporting to the corporate office (a “medic alert”) for all employee illness and patron complaints. Many restaurants make sure that the regional manager assumes immediate direct responsibility in these situations. He or she is the first call. Others call Corporate Wellness or their selected resource, whose responsibilities include informing senior management.

Time is critical. The call should be placed immediately on learning about a potential situation – twenty fours hours a day, seven days a week. Medical crises aren’t limited to 9 to 5, and are more likely to occur on weekends and holidays (when volumes are higher).

Home numbers and cell numbers must be easy to locate. New numbers and changed numbers must be circulated frequently. Calls should be welcomed – not viewed as interruptions or false alarms.

3. Use the first interaction with the health department to gather information and set the tone. Be their partner!

The importance of that first interaction in a crisis situation with the health department can’t be overstated. The message to the health department is clear: “We will cooperate. We want to do as much or more than any other restaurant has ever done in this situation. We will do the right thing – whatever that is. We want to get to the bottom of this quickly.”

And equally as important, don’t be afraid to ask questions. How many patrons called the health department? What are their symptoms? Are you speaking with other restaurants? What is your policy regarding “going public.”

The first call sets the tone and positively (or negatively) effects the entire process. The health department can and should be your partner in problem resolution. And they are as negatively effected by an adversarial relationship as you think you might be.

4. Tell the truth – the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Don’t ever say an employee didn’t work, there were no sick calls or no patrons complained if there were. Lies, errors of omission or cover-ups will always come back to haunt you.

Give only accurate information. Make sure schedule are accurate, sick calls logged and phone complaints documented. If asked a question and you don’t know the answer, it is okay to say that. But be sure to get the answer and as promised, call back with the answer.

5. Your employees are your first and last lines of defense.

Your employees must be your allies in any critical incident response. Make sure that they hear about this from you. We’re aware of employees learning about having been exposed from employees of other restaurants, from family members and from the media. Your job is to help them truly understand that their livelihood depends upon what they say, to whom they say it and how they say it. And remember, good information is your best weapon and their best weapon. Keep them informed.

6. Deadlines are deadlines. Commitments are commitments.

If you commit to having the schedules delivered to your health inspector by 3:00, make sure they are there by 3:00. You are setting one again setting a tone for responsiveness, reliability and trust. If you agree to have all employees contacted and scheduled for interviews with the health department by the end of the day tomorrow, get started on it immediately.

7. Identify and use outside resources wisely.

In critical situations, emotions run high, tempers flare, managers and partners get tired. Outside resources can often lend an unimpaired, objective and expert eye to the situation. Bring in outside resources where they can be bestutilized–medical consultants, public relations advisors and media experts. Identify their roles, fees and limits clearly up front and their return on investment will clearly outweigh the cost.

8. Don’t cross contaminate your restaurants.

When a possible foodborne illness situation occurs, one issue that nearly always crops up is a staffing shortage. The health department or Corporate Wellness will often advise asking one or more employees to stay home while awaiting test results or during an incubation period. But we still have a restaurant to run and a schedule to fill. The natural tendency would be to “borrow” staff from nearby restaurants. This could easily result in spreading an illness to a previously unaffected restaurant.

If it becomes necessary to send additional staffing to a restaurant in order to keep it open; consider sending an “opening” team or other support staff from elsewhere in the country. And commit to leaving them there as long as they are needed and out of rotation elsewhere for the length of the incubation period.

9. Handwashing, handwashing, handwashing.

Nothing that can be said or done is as important as good handwashing – especially in times of illness. An employee can have highly infectious Hepatitis A and no one else will get it if the employee followed good handwashing practices. Although good handwashing should always be the single most important focus of food safety training, it becomes even more critical when trying to curb the spread of most foodborne illness.

10. Recognize the silver linings.

When going through a medical crisis, it often feels like it will never end. It always does! Whether Hepatitis A with a fiftyplus day incubation period or TB where employees need to be retested after three months, eventually it does go away. Sometimes you are able to identify the source. Sometimes you don’t (and that can be frustrating).

But there are silver linings and making sure that you look for them helps define a difficult time. Among your managers, you’ll undoubtedly find your superstars. They are the future of your company. And as an employer, you’ll discover your most loyal employees. They really are your most valuable asset. And, last but not least, you’ll see that you have large base of faithful patrons who are forgiving and will keep coming back.

Roslyn Stone is the Chief Operating Officer of Corporate Wellness, Inc., a Mount Kisco, New York based nationwide provider of occupational health services. Corporate Wellness’ client list includes some of the largest and fastest growing restaurant and foodservice groups in the U.S. Ms. Stone can be reached at rstone@corporatewellness.com or 18004339594.