Food safety training is a pretty big deal. It’s not an exaggeration to say that your restaurant depends on it. After all, food safety training is about much more than just following the rules.
As Back of House Restaurant technology consultant Rachel Morgan points out, restaurant food safety training is about "protecting your customers, protecting your staff, and protecting your business.”
Still, life moves fast in the restaurant business. Everybody’s busy. Everybody’s hustling. Where can you even find the time for restaurant food safety training without taking your people away from their day-to-day work?
Well, with some thoughtful planning, and a little help from technology, it is possible to provide effective restaurant food safety training that won’t disrupt your operation.
Why Efficient Restaurant Food Safety Training Matters in Restaurants
At the most basic level, it’s pretty obvious why restaurant food safety training matters. In a nutshell, says Rachel, “No one wants an outbreak from their restaurant.”
But there’s a lot more to it than that. A strong food safety training program should:
- Reduce legal risks, including potential health code violations and the costly fines, shutdowns, and even lawsuits that can follow
- Enhance kitchen efficiency by ensuring staff members understand safety procedures and can therefore operate quickly, confidently, and with fewer mistakes
- Track employee certification requirements and ensure all team members remain up to date on food safety and food handling certifications
- Standardize kitchen procedures to ensure consistency and accountability for all employees and all shifts
- Promote a safety-first culture where all team members recognize the importance of food safety and share a commitment to carrying out proper procedures
Best Practices for Training Staff in Food Safety Quickly & Effectively
Food safety training may be important, but the truth is, very few small chains or independent restaurants have a formal restaurant food safety training program. Rachel explains that “with some of the smaller restaurants, it’s just a lot of finger-crossing and hoping that your staff is keeping up on their certifications.”
Training can be hard to balance with the day to day challenges of running the business, especially for restaurants that are routinely short on time and short on staff.
Fortunately, there are ways to incorporate restaurant food safety training into your workflow, provide on-the-job learning experiences, and teach proper food safety procedures without missing a beat in the kitchen.
Make Training Bite-Sized & Integrate It Into Daily Shifts
Don’t try to fit everything into a few marathon courses on food safety. Instead, break out individual learning experiences based on the kitchen's workflow. Turn everyday tasks into short hands-on training opportunities.
Provide direction, guidance, and feedback as employees-in-training complete important tasks like sanitizing prep spaces and properly refrigerating ingredients. Spread these mini lessons out over multiple shifts.
Use Digital & Mobile-Based Training Tools for Flexibility
A lot of restaurants are turning to technology for help. Back in the day, you might send your employees out for in-person training and certification, or you might bring an expert in to provide training in your kitchen. You might even enroll your employees in scheduled Zoom lectures.
In reality, these are all pretty time-consuming and disruptive options. Fortunately, innovations in mobile technology now make it possible to provide fast, easy, and convenient on-the-job training. With vendors like Trust20, your employees can complete short, friendly food safety training courses, and even earn certifications, without sacrificing productivity.
And as Rachel points out, there's “no more dragging everyone into a six-hour lecture. Digital training means your staff can train at their own pace.”
Assign a Food Safety Mentor on Each Shift
Of course, even with the help of sophisticated training technology, you still need humans to take the wheel. Effective restaurant food safety training requires guidance and support. Appoint experienced and trusted team members to be food safety mentors.
Every shift should have a food safety mentor — somebody who is available to answer questions, provide one-on-one instruction, and give honest feedback to employees-in-training.
Use Visual Aids & Checklists in Workstations
Make sure it’s easy for employees to view food handling and food safety guidelines from anywhere in the kitchen. Post signs, diagrams, illustrations, and step-by-step checklists throughout your workspace to provide instructions in areas like handwashing, station cleaning, and first aid procedures.
Good signage can provide a constant reminder that food safety is a top priority for your restaurant. It can also give your employees immediate access to important procedural information in a fast-paced environment.
Conduct Surprise Food Safety Drills — But Keep Them Short
You never know when the local food safety inspector might show up. Make sure your team is ready for the next surprise inspection by uncorking a few of your own surprise safety drills. But keep it light.
For instance, use the pre-shift prep time for a little friendly competition. Give each team member a workstation, a sanitization checklist, and the chance to win a gift card by completing their task the fastest.
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This can create an environment where individual staff members feel personally incentivized to practice and improve their food safety and food handling skills. This approach also improves the odds that your kitchen will be ready for the next surprise visit from the health inspector.
Get Restaurant Managers Involved & Lead by Example
It’s not enough to simply show that you expect proper food safety practices from your team. You also need managers who lead by example. It’s important to establish the importance of food safety at every level of your organization.
“Build it into your culture,” Rachel advises. “Talk about it on pre-shifts. Has anyone taken a food safety training course recently? Who's got one coming up? It shows that it’s part of the culture, not just a compliance box to check.”
Essential Food Safety Topics Every Restaurant Staff Should Know
Whether you choose to handle restaurant food safety training in-house or with the support of a third-party provider, there a few essential topics that must be covered:
- Proper handwashing and hygiene including details on how long and how frequently hands should be washed as well as conditions under which protective gear like gloves should be used
- Cross-contamination prevention measures including information about handling allergens, proper labeling of cookware, proper storage of ingredients and utensils, and more
- Food temperature guidelines for all aspects of food handling including cooking, cooling, reheating, and storage
- Cleaning and sanitizing procedures including directions for sanitizing prep and cooking surfaces, instructions for dishwashing, and clearly posted cleaning schedules
- Food storage protocols including details on refrigeration best practices, proper labeling of all ingredients to prevent errors, and reliance on a FIFO (First In, First Out) system to reduce spoilage
- Pest prevention measures including proper trash disposal, proper sealing of food containers, and vigilance for potential signs of insect or rodent infestation
Keeping Track of Your Food Safety Rules
As you can see, there’s a lot that goes into comprehensive restaurant food safety training. Every restaurant is required to meet federal food safety requirements as well as accessibility standards provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
But food safety and certification rules can actually be quite different from one state to the next, or, as Rachel explains, even from one county to the next.
“It varies like crazy," says Rachel. “And then if you add in ABC [Alcoholic Beverage Control] laws, every state requires something completely different. On top of that, local and state health departments are pushing out new rules all the time.”
“It gets really complicated,” Rachel acknowledges. “Every state, county, or even local municipality has different regulations, and they’re changing all the time. The complexity of food safety regulations makes it easy to miss something, and that’s when mistakes happen. Without a system to track it all, you’re basically relying on luck to stay compliant.”
Tools & Technology to Simplify Food Safety Training
“That's why I like what Trust20 is doing with their dashboard,” says Rachel. “The dashboard is actually free and you can use it to track everything. That is such a savings of time and money.”
Vendors like Trust20 offer fully online food safety training programs where you can enroll team members in focused mobile-ready courses, keep track of certification schedules, and ensure that your training program meets the specific standards in your state and region.
As an ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB)-accredited provider of food safety education and testing throughout the U.S., Trust20 makes it possible for your team members to take part in fast, accessible and thorough training in areas like food handling, food allergies, management, and more.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Food Safety Training
The truth is, a lot can go wrong in the kitchen without proper food safety training. Rachel notes that this could include “anything from leaving a piece of meat out for an extra 30 minutes to not understanding some of the complications with allergies and how difficult they can be to recognize in some recipes.”
This is why it’s so important not just to provide a formal restaurant food safety training program, but to make sure that the education is actually sinking in for your employees. There are a few common mistakes you’ll want to look out for as you consider your approach.
Avoid Long, Boring Training Sessions
Every second counts in the kitchen. Keep training sessions quick, engaging, interesting and, preferably, hands-on. You don’t want to lose your audience and you don’t want to waste their time.
Create short-form learning opportunities that move at the same pace as your kitchen, like guidance for sanitizing, handwashing, or food storage as these tasks are being carried out in real time.
Don’t Overlook Ongoing Education
Restaurant food safety training is not just for new hires. For one thing, most food handling and food safety certifications must be renewed every few years. On top of that, rules are constantly changing.
Make sure that your restaurant food safety training program includes both introductory training and ongoing training for veteran team members.
Don’t Forget About Accountability
Team members need to share in the responsibility of keeping a healthy, safe, and sanitary environment. Take steps to ensure that individuals are held accountable.
- Establish cleaning schedules and require staff members to sign off on completed duties.
- Make teammates aware of upcoming re-certification deadlines and require them to complete training courses on their time.
- Hold team members responsible when they fall short of expectations and recognize the efforts of those who show exceptional leadership in this area.
How Back of House Can Help Your Restaurant With Food Safety
No matter how you slice it, food safety is vital to your restaurant’s reputation, the wellbeing of your customers and employees, and the longevity of your business. As Rachel points out, without an effective food safety regimen, “People can get sick. People can get injured. People can get hurt. And ultimately, that puts your business at risk.”
In other words, an effective and efficient food safety training program isn’t optional. Without one, you are taking risks that no restaurant can really afford. Fortunately, there are all kinds of technologies that can help you run a faster, safer, and more sanitary operation.
Not sure where to start? Schedule your free, personalized consultation with Rachel or another Back of House expert today!
