State of Mind - AIB International, Inc.

State of
Mind
Develop a food protection culture at
your plant by honestly evaluating the
current state of your training process
and implementing specific procedures to
improve that process.
By Galen Haar
6 september/october 2010 AIB UPDATE
During my career as a
Food Safety Auditor,
I have experienced at
least a dozen audit schemes
that focus on the evaluation of
the effectiveness of the food protection
programs that have been
implemented at a food processing
facility. One of the common criteria
in each of these schemes is training
of plant personnel, including managers.
Companies that are involved in the food
supply chain, from ingredients and packaging
suppliers to finished food producers
and distributors, are expected to provide
training to all staff members. This training
could include subjects such as Good
Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), Allergens,
Hazardous Analysis Critical Control
Point (HACCP), Sanitation, Integrated
Pest Management (IPM), Food Defense,
Foreign Material Control, Personal Hygiene,
and so forth.
Training is defined as “developing or
forming the habits, thoughts or behavior
of a person by discipline and instruction;
to make proficient by instruction
and practice.” 1 However, my experiences
1
Random House College Dictionary

Continuing Education
do not show that our industry’s training
programs are always producing the desired
results. I frequently review food protection
training programs and am shown elaborate
computer or video presentations that are
used to relay this information. Attendees
sign a sheet to show they have participated
in the training and may even complete a
quiz to show they absorbed at least some
of the information that was presented. I
then do a physical inspection in the plant
and find numerous examples of violations
of the plant’s policies and procedures. Here
are a few real-life experiences to support
my point.
During one inspection, I walked up
1. to a conveyor on which exposed food
product was being transported. An operator
was standing near the belt, right next to a
drive motor and gear box assembly that was
mounted above the product stream and had
a shallow (~½” deep) catch pan installed below
it. As I approached, I noticed a slow but
steady drip coming from the catch pan and
falling onto the food product below. Upon
closer inspection, I discovered the gear box
was leaking lubricant and the catch pan was
overflowing. A little additional investigation
revealed that the operator had attended all
the facility’s food protection training sessions
for the past several years, had signed
the training log, and had successfully completed
the related quizzes. So why did this
operator not notice, and react appropriately,
to the food product contamination event
that was occurring about three feet from
where he was standing?
During an inspection of the outside
2. grounds at another plant, we came to
the area where bulk liquids were received
(i.e. edible oils, liquid sweeteners, etc). I
asked to view the in-line receiving strainers
and my escort went to find one of
the receiving workers. The receiver soon
appeared with the tools needed to open
the receiving ports so I could inspect the
strainers. As he removed the strainer basket
from the first port, I noticed something
odd at the bottom of the basket. Upon
closer examination, I found that two 3 ⁄8”
holes had been drilled into the bottom of
this basket. I questioned the receiver and
learned: “The truck drivers were complaining
there was too much back-pressure in
this line for them to be able to run their
discharge pumps at full speed. So I took
the strainer basket to the shop and fixed
it.” Once again, food protection training
records were available to show this worker
had experienced all the plant’s training
sessions for some years.
While inspecting a line in the finished
3. product packaging area at a plant, I
asked my escort to find the person who
was responsible for monitoring the metal
detector (CCP) on that line. This operator
proceeded to show me the procedure
she used to challenge the metal detector.
The test pieces did trigger the detector
and activated the alarm and reject mechanism.
However, the timing of the reject
device was not set correctly and all three
test pieces continued down the packaging
line unaffected. I questioned the operator
only to learn that, “This thing does that
a lot. I’ll try to remember to get one of
the maintenance guys to adjust it later.
We have to finish this run by the end of
the shift.” Guess what? Current training
records were also available for this person
and her supervisor.
Do you notice a pattern from these
examples? The workers in these scenarios
had all experienced their plant’s training
programs, in some cases, multiple times.
Yet, this training had failed to form the
habits, thoughts or behaviors of the person
in the most effective manner.
Based on my experience with more
successful training programs, I can offer
some ideas that may or may not apply to
the situation at your plant. Evaluate your
own training process with these suggestions
in mind and determine how you can
improve the effectiveness of the investment
you’re making.
VALUED TRAINING
Sometimes, training becomes a repetitive
event. You have to do it to comply with
company requirements and so you have
acceptable records available for your next
third-party audit. However, many companies
have used the same training material
for years and offer the same routine presentation
each time. Most staff members have
seen this training several times and tend to
nap through the event.
When the session is finished, you might
have everyone sign a record to show they
have attended the training. Then you
collect the record, place it into a properly
labeled folder, and breathe a sigh of relief
that the event is over until next year.
Or maybe you give each department
shift supervisor a training guide and tell
them to review it with their staff during
the next shift meeting. Again, you make
sure they obtain a record of the people who
have been exposed to this training. Have
you really offered anything that employees
consider valuable? Have you helped your
personnel “develop or form the habits,
thoughts or behaviors” that will enhance
your food protection programs? It is your
responsibility to make training interesting
and effective. Find some way to offer
your personnel adequate training so they
can help maintain your food protection
programs successfully.
TRAINING EVALUATION
How do you determine if the attendees
have clearly understood and retained the
important information the training has
provided? This can represent a significant
challenge. You may have a sign-off form
that states something like, “By signing
below, I confirm that I have received the
training noted and that I understand the
material that was presented.” But, what
does this record provide in the way of real
feedback? Probably only that each attendee
can sign their own name!
Others may use an oral quiz with
questions that the group can answer. This
method is a great way to determine which
members of your staff are happy to speak for
the rest of the group while everyone else nods
their head in agreement with the spokesperson.
If you intentionally direct questions
to individuals, you risk embarrassing and
alienating some members of the staff.
You could consider a written quiz that
participants must complete individually.
But first determine if everyone has the skills
needed to take a real quiz or would you
have to create simple true/false questions
that don’t provide much verification of the
september/october 2010 AIB UPDATE 7

Continuing Education
training’s effectiveness? Can you confirm
that all attendees heard what you were
saying and understood the message you
were trying to convey? Have you effectively
“made your staff proficient by instruction
and practice”?
A real quiz may be a good place to start.
Determine the most critical training points
for the session and write clear, concise
questions that address these points. A mix
of true/false and multiple choice questions
might be best. Eight to 10 questions may
be enough to let you know who needs additional
help. To ensure that all participants
can understand the questions and the
possible answers, read each one out loud
and give them a few minutes to mark the
answer on their quiz. Follow up by
asking supervisors to observe and
orally quiz personnel on a one-onone
basis during the next week or
two. Make sure each supervisor
records his experiences and gives
you a written report. This provides
additional verification of the effectiveness
of the training, and helps
you identify individuals that may
need some extra coaching.
TRAIN YOUR TRAINERS
Have any of your trainers experienced
“train-the-trainer” events in the past
few years? If not, how current is their
knowledge of the material that is being
presented? It could make a significant
difference in the effectiveness of the training
if trainers refresh their knowledge
and presentation skills on a regular basis.
There are many opportunities for them to
attend live seminars or to participate in
online courses. Having well equipped and
confident trainers may help to establish a
more effective food protection paradigm
throughout the plant. These trainers could
even hold spontaneous “mini-sessions” on
the production floor when they notice a
need for some subject-specific coaching.
This could result in plant workers feeling
that the company is seriously committed
to food protection training and making a
greater effort to support it.
OUTSIDE RESOURCES
Is all of your food protection training
done using in-house trainers? Perhaps you
should hire an outside resource for some
training sessions. This would expose everyone
in the company to different training
techniques, styles and experiences. A good
professional trainer can make a mundane
subject interesting and even exciting.
People learn better when you capture their
attention with entertaining presentation
techniques and reinforce the message with
experience-based examples. Professional
trainers work hard to develop this level of
effectiveness.
OFFER INCENTIVES
Have you developed a program to recognize
and reward the champions that work on
Have you developed a program to recognize
and reward the champions that work on
your production lines? Peer training and
reinforcement can have a very positive impact if
properly directed. You could create an incentive
system that would benefit individuals who are
“caught doing something right.”
your production lines? Peer training and
reinforcement can have a very positive
impact if properly directed. You could
create an incentive system that would
benefit individuals who are “caught doing
something right.”
When you notice someone who is particularly
involved in some aspect of food
protection, invite that person to participate
in the next training session. Maybe they
could speak for just a few minutes about
some experience they have had that relates
to food protection. You could also ask this
person to do some individual coaching
with new employees as part of their initial
orientation program. Search for additional
resources that exist within your personnel
pool and use those resources to enhance
your training/coaching programs.
TARGET TOPICS
Internal promotions that are designed
to strengthen targeted areas of your food
protection programs may be a great way
to enhance your efforts. Pick a subject, like
hand washing, and do a campaign for a few
weeks to raise awareness of the importance
of this personal hygiene practice. Use
posters, blurbs in the company newsletter,
short examples at shift meetings, etc., to
promote proper hand-washing techniques.
After a few weeks, move on to another
subject. This would be a great project for
your sales/marketing departments to be
involved with. These folks are professional
“promoters” and spend much of their time
trying to get buyers and consumers to think
in a certain way.
EMPHASIZE CLIENT EXPECTATIONS
Also, continuously emphasize that customers
expect extremely effective food protection
programs. Remind personnel
that these customers will ultimately
determine the future of the plant
and all its members. Effective food
protection is not something that is
being mandated by the management
team. It is simply part of what is
expected of the food processing
industry.
Effective training amounts to
developing a targeted state of mind
among the food plant’s population.
If you have been successful, you should
notice that staff members police each other,
regularly bring improvement suggestions
to you, voluntarily help with training new
workers, are concerned about the results
of product protection audits/inspections,
ask many questions of you and their supervisors,
routinely tell you about potential
food protection issues they notice, and
generally manage the programs from the
plant floor.
At this point, you may be thinking that
I am proposing a fantasy world, but I have
experienced some plant cultures that closely
mirrored this picture. I believe these plants
have worked very hard and for a very long
time to develop the food protection culture
that permeates their operations. Get started
by honestly evaluating the current state of
your training process and implementing
procedures to improve the results of this
process. AIB
The author, a 25-year veteran of the food processing
industry, is an auditor for AIB International.
8 september/october 2010 AIB UPDATE