Risk & Safety Management

Part four of this four-part series focuses on the Corporate Wellness presentation at the Risk & Safety Managers Executive Study Group Meeting.

SEATTLE—Information gathering conferences take place frequently to help stem the increase of foodborne illness and communicable disease outbreaks in foodservice operations.

Industry experts met at the Risk & Safety Managers Executive Study Group Meeting here last month to do just that. The National Restaurant Association sponsors this annual gathering, which features operations VPs, risk control managers, R&D managers and corporate safety managers among the attendees. 

These meetings provide a forum for restaurant professionals to work together to stay on top of the latest trends and practices. Benefits include sharing advice and lessons learned from others in restaurant risk and safety management resulting in safer foodservice establishments. 

Breakout sessions included topics such as produce safety, high tech training tools, liability insurance, creative claims and closure strategies and job hazard analysis. 

Among the featured speakers was Roslyn Stone, COO of Corporate Wellness based in Mount Kisco, N.Y. Founded almost 18 years ago, the company bills itself as “a medical department without walls.” Corporate Wellness works with its mid-size and larger clients to develop custom strategies to promote employee and patron health and make crisis management the service of last resort. 

SIGNIFICANT INTEREST 

Topics of particular concern to conference goers were Norovirus, proper handwashing, sick logs and partnering with health departments.

“There was a significant interest in understanding Norovirus including responding to an outbreak and vomit cleanup,” said Stone.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Norovirus is transmitted primarily through the fecal-oral route, either by consumption of contaminated food or water or by direct person-to-person contact. Transmission occurs when droplets contaminate surfaces or are swallowed. Norovirus is highly contagious and as few as 10 viral particles may be sufficient to cause a person to become infected 

KNOWLEDGE DEFICIT 

In Stone’s presentation entitled “Crisis Prevention: Keeping Employees and Patrons Healthy,” she refers to a “Norovirus Knowledge Deficit” where she asked the following questions. “Do your managers know what Norovirus is? How often do guests vomit in your restaurants? Do you have procedures in place for cleaning up after an employee or guest is ill? What is the risk of exposure to those nearby when someone vomits? 

NORO DEMONSTRATION

Stone set up a visual display to demonstrate this last point. She created a scenario to show the ramifications of a line cook with Norovirus vomiting into a garbage pail in the kitchen. She placed a container of simulated vomit in the exact center of the room during her presentation. 

She then informed attendees that, had this been the real thing, six people within two meters (one meter being a little over three feet) had a 91% chance of being sick within 30 hours. Within four meters, 12 people had a 56% chance. “Everyone in the room within eight meters had a 25% of becoming ill,” observed Stone. 

Concern was also expressed about what should be done with food that is in the vicinity of the contaminated area. “We struggle with that in this industry,” said Stone. Her advice? Throw the food out. “Bottom line a restaurant has a higher obligation to current guests and those who will eat there tomorrow and the next night.” 

Another topic, which is always top of mind, was handwashing. “There was a lot of discussion about handwashing,” said Stone. 

She goes on to say that the average time an employee spends washing their hands is three seconds. “Even after an hour of training that number only increases to eight seconds,” Stone states. Some restaurants have instituted a timed water shutoff to promote longer handwashing. 

 

Panel: Crisis Prevention: Keeping Employees and Patrons Healthy 

Following are five key points for restaurant managers to observe in helping to prevent a foodborne or communicable disease outbreak in their establishments.

• Teaching and promoting proper handwashing
• Maintaining sick logs
• Knowing why employees are calling in sick
• Building positive relationships with health departments
• Setting a higher bar for health awareness

 

MAKE IT SILLY 

“It’s all about understanding what can be done to promote handwashing,” Stone notes. Her advice to attendees was to appoint a single manager whose primary responsibility it is to promote handwashing. “Come up with creative ways to place more emphasis on handwashing,” Stone notes. “Make it silly, make it fun.” 

She points to a restaurant where employees are awarded Mardi Gras beads each time they wash their hands. “At the end of a shift the employee with the most beads is given a gift certificate for dinner at a neighboring restaurant,” Stone notes. 

In addition to proper handwashing, Stone stresses the importance of keeping sick logs, adding that the majority of restaurants do not use them. “How do you know if you had a problem or why?,” she asks. She continues by saying if a health department calls with complaints from sick customers, “how do you know if your employees are ill if you don’t keep a log?” 

Sick logs are also a good way to make sure that staffers are staying out of work the recommended three days after a Norovirus attack. 

GOOD MANAGEMENT 

“Nothing replaces good management,” states Stone. Managers must know their employees. If an employee is denied a day off and then calls in sick it’s probably not cause for concern. “If you have an employee, however, who never called in sick before, then that could be a problem,” she said. 

Workers calling in sick brought up another point at the conference. “Can you ask employees their symptoms when they call in sick?,” said Stone. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) does not pertain to infectious diseases in the foodservice workplace according to Stone. 

POSITIVE RELATIONS 

Another key point is building positive relations with health departments before a crisis occurs. Have a policy stating that each new general manager must contact the local health department for training during their first three months of employment. “It’s a way for them to meet health inspectors in a non-conflicting environment,” Stone observes. 

Partnering with a third-party administrator like Corporate Wellness is an additional step foodservice operations can take in the battle against foodborne illness and communicable diseases. 

Corporate Wellness believes that crisis response services should only supplement proactive prevention and health promotion activities. Corporate Wellness assists the restaurant industry in dealing with health matters on a daily basis—from chicken pox to TB; from administering vaccines to outfitting a first aid kit. 

The company’s vast restaurant industry experience allows Corporate Wellness to consult with each client to examine foodborne illness prevention, food handling practices, food safety training, handwashing procedures and employee health and safety communication. 

Prevention begins by raising the level of awareness throughout the organization. When there is whooping cough in local schools or an illness in a nearby restaurant, managers — in order to be well informed — have expert guidance available just by picking up the phone. A proactive plan can then be enabled to protect employees and guests. 

Creating a health-oriented mindset makes good business sense. This trio —restaurant manager, health department, third-party administrator — working together with an emphasis on wellness and awareness can build a crisis prevention plan that, first and foremost, reduces the probability that there will ever be a need for one. 

“Nothing substitutes for good judgment and taking a cautious course of action,” she states. 

FOOTNOTE 

Stone recounts an incident that took place a week after the conference. Corporate Wellness received a call from one of its restaurant group clients stating it had been notified by its produce vendor that it received Spring Mix and arugula that may have been tainted. One out of seven samples had tested positive for Salmonella. 

The produce company issued an immediate voluntary recall of its Spring Mix and arugula across the country. The following morning the company stated that the produce that had tested positive for Salmonella was “believed to have been tainted by laboratory error.”

Stone said that nearly every one of their clients had purchased product from this vendor. Even thought there was no media coverage, Corporate Wellness was able to alert its clients to the situation. The company also got word to its clients before the news hit the websites that track product recalls and foodborne outbreaks.

 

Sidebar:  Norovirus: What can we do? 

Corporate Wellness compiles an annual ranking of the Top 10 outbreaks that can affect the foodservice industry. This list is based on the volume of calls and the number of crises the company responds to each year. In 2005 Norovirus hovered around the second or third spot. In 2006 it moved up to number one. Restaurant managers and other foodservice professionals must be proactive when it comes to dealing with Norovirus. 

• Be alert to news stories and talk within the restaurant community about Norovirus.
• Implement symptom surveys.
• Develop procedures for top to bottom disinfecting using bleach-based cleaners if Norovirus is suspected
• Place body fluid clean up kits in every restaurant.

 Source: Crisis Prevention: Keeping Employees and Patrons Healthy Corporate Wellness Presentation for Risk & Safety Managers Executive Study Group Meeting