In foodservice as in most endeavors, What gets measured gets done. Numbers help establish and sustain process control. Regular feedback motivates both staff and management. Success is celebrated and maintained. Variations from the norm are swiftly corrected and the risk of a foodborne outbreak is very low. The business and its jobs are secure. The public's perception of quality in both the place and the people keep them coming back.
These are the primary outcomes of the HandsOn System.
Stepping down the risk by stepping up monitoring technologies
Culture change is the only way we have found to convert time-hardened handwashing behaviors. Years of accepting low compliance now defines today's reality. Whatcha got is … who you are!
Years of training have produced waves of temporary peaks in performance. Training without standards has proven to be both frustrating and costly as gains slip back to the undeclared norm.
Do you really want to change? From where you are on the organization chart, can you build a leadership team to get it done? The HandsOn™ System is designed to help chart this strategic move for the leaders who respond affirmatively.
Some chains have managed this culture change from one of production first to customer safety first at a unit level, usually capitalizing on the very special leadership characteristics of an individual manager. Handwashing For Life recommends each chain restaurant concept search out such a unit and develop a repeatable process model around it.
This prototype facility can provide data to better value the risk of current corporate hand hygiene behaviors and determine the risk-based costs for a sustainable solution. Can it be done without raising prices? Continued nurturing can hothouse the initiative for months or years while resources are defined, acquired and aligned for rollout.
Monitoring, step five of the HandsOn System, is first and foremost about staff motivation. It is already a part of every foodservice operation. Informal observation by supervisory staff is the standard and in general has proven to be inadequate.
Handwashing's Commit & Comply: A Guide to Monitoring Options
New monitoring technologies warrant a reassessment of handwashing and process control options. Accurate data is now available for those that believe better handwashing can significantly lower their risk of an outbreak. Poor hand hygiene remains the number one contributing factor identified in the study of outbreaks.
There are four segments in Handwashing For Life's Commit & Comply Matrix. Each represents a choice in effectiveness and/or in efficiency.
The first decision is the choice of team vs. individual monitoring. Both have advantages. Our experience suggests this selection is highly aligned with differences in corporate cultures.
A. Team Monitoring
- Counting Soap Dispenser. This is the simplest version that Handwashing For Life has used for many years, for all its compliance research. The leader and our choice of Best Practice in this category is GOJO. Their FMX dispenser uses a counter branded Signol™. It is currently out of production but it, or a related technology, is expected to return sometime in 2013.
- Thermal Detection. Irisys is the global leader in people counting and is our choice as a potential Best Practice provider in this category of Team Monitoring. It is a new and exciting approach building on the learning from earlier industry pioneers.
B. Individual Monitoring
- Manual Entry. Hygenius from Compliance Control has a proven record in this category. They consistently demonstrate and document increased handwashing compliance.
- Video/RFID. Sealed Air Vision Enabled Training (VET) is a unique service that identifies noncompliance and delivers consistent, impartial, and immediate feedback. It is our Best Practice choice for the Individual Monitoring category.
An interview with a restaurant operator chef using the VET technology at his 12 handsinks.
See Commit & Comply Matrix for added technology comparisons. This guide will be updated regularly as installation experience broadens.
The ServeReady® Hands Priority - Measued, Motivated & Managed
Changing hand hygiene behaviors is a reset of priorities where customer safety rises to the top of the list of restaurant services. Safety sets the intuitive compass for action and becomes the default as each employee is reprogrammed for the day’s menu and priorities. Reaching and sustaining handwashing frequency trumps the traditionally measured efficiency factors.
The HandsOn System provides the structure to leverage these new technologies to change behaviors from management to prep line workers and wait staff. It can help get started by setting up a collaborative assessment of current policies and practices to be sure all potential hurdles are addressed in The 5 Handwashing Hurdles discussion.
New monitoring technologies add process sustainability.
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