Food-Service-Manual-for-Health-Care-Institutions

Food Service Manual for Health Care Institutions
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To discourage pilferage in the food service department, managers need to deal with the
problem immediately, persistently, and consistently. Firm corrective action, enforcement of
well-defined policies and procedures that are applied fairly, continuous job-enhancement training,
and effective supervisory techniques that boost morale are some deterrents to this problem.
Also important are written and well-publicized internal and external security policies and
procedures (within the limits of what reasonably should be disclosed). For example:
• Security begins with the employment process. Check references and, if possible, talk
directly to an applicant’s previous employer(s). During the screening phase, watch for gaps in
job history, references that appear professionally unrelated, questionable addresses or telephone
numbers of references, or a Social Security prefix that does not match an applicant’s
reported birth state. Another cautionary signal is a space left blank on that portion of an application
form that asks whether an applicant has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor.
• Provide new employees with complete and thorough training and orientation to departmental
policy and procedures.
• Occasionally check content of packages taken by employees from the department if
allowed by facility policies or laws of city or state.
• Routinely check content of trash carts and garbage containers.
• To the extent possible, maintain only one employee entrance and exit that are visible to
supervisory staff.
• Lock-and-key procedures should be clear-cut, with key-assignment logs maintained and
a sign-out procedure for keys kept in a central lockbox. Duplication of keys should be prohibited.
Those locks and combinations to which former employees had access should be
changed—especially if the reason for release from employment was security related or if an
employee’s exit was less than amicable.
As noted earlier, unique security problems can occur in purchasing, receiving, storage,
inventory control, production, and services (including cafeteria, vending, and catering). Two
security problems in the purchasing area that require careful monitoring are potential collusion
between purchasing personnel and distributors and the ordering of excess items that can
increase inventory and, with it, the possibility of theft.
Security problems in receiving, storage, and inventory control will affect the quality and
quantity of available supplies and, therefore, the cost of food and supplies. Receiving is vulnerable
because it is possible for either delivery or receiving personnel (or both jointly) to short
items or substitute lower-quality items and then sell the original items for personal profit.
Unless merchandise is immediately accounted for and stored upon receipt, the potential for
theft is heightened. In a food service operation, expensive and high-demand items such as alcoholic
and carbonated beverages, knives and other small utensils, or candy may have to be
placed in locked storage areas.
A variety of measures can be implemented to prevent pilferage in the production area.
Close (but nonthreatening) supervision of activities will reduce employee consumption or
removal of leftovers or their unauthorized preparation of food items for personal consumption.
Meat and cheese are the two most frequent targets of theft from the production storage area.
Therefore, cases of meat placed in refrigerated or frozen storage should be opened and inventoried
one by one. Again, controlled access to production storage areas is recommended.
Unique security problems in the service areas—the cafeteria, vending, and catering
operations—are pilferage of food and supplies and control of cash. Commonly, theft in this
area ranges from a cashier’s charging friends less for meals to not charging for one or more
individual items, to “no-sale” transactions or “over-rings” from which the cashier pockets the
customer’s money. Sometimes a cashier may leave a register unlocked for another employee to
take money. Vending machine operations represent another territory susceptible to pilferage,
especially if department employees are responsible for filling machines and counting money.