the food preparations his residents required. Eddy teaches her students both the “what” and the “why” of special dietary require- ments. For example, she brings in speech pathologists to teach about swallowing mechanisms using medical terminology. “This is how we teach about food consis- tencies and why it matters to someone with dysphagia,” she said. Beyond the technical requirements of maintaining a healthy and safe kitchen and dining area, Eddy sensitizes students on resi- dent privacy issues as they relate to diet. For example, “someone handling trays could be unaware that residents may not want to be acknowledged as having swallowing disorders, diabetes, or other conditions that affect what they eat or how their food is pre- pared.” Without this training, students (or staff) may not be cognizant that a resident’s diet is a confidential matter. “If you have food service experience in a restaurant, this may not be quite so obvious,” she explained.
Designing a food safety program Weichelt, who was previously responsible for the ServSafe® Food Safety training programs offered by the NRA, said “don’t take what [food handlers] know or don’t know for granted” when designing a worker training program. Weichelt recommended ServSafe food managers be recertified ev- ery three to five years, with food handlers recertifying every two years or so. Gorsuch uses the ServSafe curriculum to
certify his staff, then supplements that train- ing by regularly reinforcing safety and com- pliance topics with in-service meetings and on-the-spot coaching. Weichelt endorsed this approach: “Managers need to be observant and give immediate feedback and remedial training as and when they notice issues. Just training once and walking away isn’t ideal.” A workplace training program should
cover not just each person but also each piece of equipment at a community. Gor- such tailors his training program by com- munity, as each has different equipment. Koelling noted that “in a kitchen, it’s the technical side of things that typically needs reinforcement. Like what’s going on inside
your ice machine? If not properly cleaned and inspected, it could be the single biggest risk in your community. There’s not much exposure to a topic like that outside of a health care or senior living community; it’s important to train.”
Staying inspection ready According to Gorsuch, daily reinforcement is the key to the inspection success at his communities. “We know what to look for daily, and we stay inspection ready. We don’t have to worry about ‘getting’ ready for in- spectors. That’s the way I was trained.” Koelling uses a checklist “game” to
introduce some fun into the process of getting and staying “inspection ready.” Strategic Dining Services creates tailored checklists such that each piece of equip- ment gets inspected, and each employee gets a set of tasks to complete. The goal is that each checklist is completed without any issues found, in less than four minutes. “When the four minutes are up, we look at the corrections needed. And we talk about not just ‘what’ needs to be corrected, but also ‘why’ and ‘how.’ So, we’re playing a game, but learning in the process.” They also use it to get others familiar with the inspection process and build an under- standing across the entire team, by having an executive director or the maintenance director take a position in the drill. A nice side effect of the training is it can increase inspection scores by helping avoid minor findings, Koelling said.
Worker safety Training and reinforcement of best prac- tices and community-specific processes is critical to maintaining food safety. Training is also essential to worker safety. Weichelt noted that food service communities “are busy, very high pressure. Things get busy, there are many moving parts, and things can change rapidly.” If equipment is not working properly, or staff is not trained to use it correctly, injuries can occur. Beyond the increased workers’ compensation ex- pense of injuries, workers have a legal right to a safe working environment. Koelling noted that keeping workers safe starts with the hiring process. “Are you hiring people that are equipped to be in a kitchen setting where things are hot, sharp, heavy, and fast- paced?” He noted worker shortages and difficulty in hiring can sometimes also rush the onboarding processes that are so critical to keeping dining staff safe.
Trust your instincts If a senior living executive doesn’t have a food service background and isn’t sure where to start with improving a food ser- vice operation, Koelling offered this advice: “Start with your instincts. Those are going to be your best tool for evaluating what’s going on. What does it look like in the kitch- en? Smell like? If the kitchen doesn’t seem right, trust me, it’s not right. Start with your instincts, and then work out a plan or get help to address the concerns.”
A SAFETY RESOURCE FOR YOUNG DINING WORKERS
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cites that restaurants and other dining businesses in the United States employ 11.6 million people; of those, nearly 30 percent are under 20 years of age.
To assist those workers, OSHA has developed a special e-tool geared toward young workers in food service that describes common hazards and offers potential safety solutions. The e-tool includes information, quizzes, and posters on a variety of topics from serving and clean-up to cooking and food prep, and can be accessed at
osha.gov/SLTC/youth/restaurant/index.html.
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