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How Hand Hygiene Monitoring Gets You in the Game
Well implemented technology-assisted monitoring of handwashing behaviors is a potential game-changer in food safety but it does share one major weakness with its historic standard, observation. Neither is a stand-alone fix. They merely provide an assessment of current behaviors and evidence of the current customer-care culture.
Once you have credible and reliable numbers, your pair of jacks, you start playing the game and lowering the risks. The game starts in the C-suite and might come to an abrupt end if you are not well prepared. “We are observing current handwashing behaviors to be about half of what we consider safe. It is not a matter of training, it is the lack of an agreed standard for handwash frequency. If this level is confirmed, I will be meeting with Risk Management and Finace to help define an acceptable risk and lay out a pilot program to align handwashing standards with other customer-care initiatives.”
Data is your ace. Compliance monitoring technology can make the difference by providing a unbiased view. A documented internal test is best. That is the quickest way to break through the barriers of complacency and deal with the protectors of Team Status Quo. Short of that, bring an example of research you strongly believe in. Get buy-in for an assessment in the form of a trial and a preliminary budget for behavior changing programs where baseline numbers are converted into food safety actions and brand protection. It is more about commitment than training.
Before you add any intervention to improve compliance, take your baseline reading back to the C-suite and confirm support for the measurements of success. Confirm the reliability of the data with staff supervisors as they will now be rewarded for their leadership in achieving this critical performance measure.
You will never be playing this game with the strength of a straight flush. The risk of outbreaks will never be zero but a base for continuous improvement is yours with a simple “yes” from the corner office.
