Food Safety: Checking it Twice

B.R. Guest checklists outline each employee’s food-safety responsibilities.

By Christine Zimmerman, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 6/1/2004

Laurel Cudden, director of food safety and risk management, is the keeper of the list for B.R. Guest’s 14 restaurants, which have more than 2,000 employees.

A business is only as strong as its weakest employee. But if that employee happens to be weak in food-safety practices, disaster can strike.

So how can restaurants ensure that every employee takes personal responsibility for the safety of their customers? B.R. Guest has brought its food-safety standards down to the individual level by developing checklists for every employee to follow daily.

Laurel Cudden, director of food safety and risk management at B.R. Guest, is the keeper of the lists for the company’s 14 restaurants. She says the checklists remind employees that food safety is not negotiable. The lists are so detailed, Cudden says, that a server from one unit could walk into another unit, read the list and know exactly how to perform in any position. And New York City health inspectors are impressed with the focus on detail, according to Cudden: “We look at the regulations on a daily basis with our checklists.”

That’s no easy feat considering that B.R. Guest has a staff of more than 2,000. The New York-based company operates Coconut Grill, Isabella’s, Park Avalon, Atlantic Grill, Ocean Grill, Blue Water Grill, Ruby Foo’s Dim Sum and Sushi Palace, Ruby Foo’s Times Square, Blue Fin, Dos Caminos, Dos Caminos SoHo, Fiamma Osteria, Fiamma Trattoria at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, and recently opened Vento. Mediterranean, classic American, regional Mexican, seafood, Italian and Pan-Asian cuisines are all represented on the roster.

Bridge Building
Cudden developed and fine-tuned the lists with input from employees, the New York Department of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the New York State Restaurant Association.

“Communicating with the regulatory agencies has helped us stay on top of trends in food-borne illnesses. The different agencies may have different politics, but we all have the same goal of a safe, wholesome food supply,” she says.

Cudden adds that the lists also affect the bottom line, because the company has better product control and faster turnaround of fresh products.

Jorge Hernandez, vice president of food safety and risk management for the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, says, “Checklists are a fantastic idea; very forward-thinking.” He notes that while restaurants work hard to provide their employees with training and knowledge, they often need a way to help employees apply that information.

Each employee’s checklist includes basic set-up responsibilities such as ensuring accurate thermometer readings.

“It’s like building a bridge between the training programs and what they actually need to do in their jobs. It creates a whole food-safety environment when every individual is accountable,” says Hernandez. “The follow-up to education is creating behavioral change. Employers need to continually reinforce what they’ve taught.”

Hernandez says that one way to emphasize the importance of following the checklists is to link them to overall job performance as B.R. Guest does. “A number of organizations are starting to tie food-safety practices to monetary incentives. It’s an exciting idea, because more and more, food safety is part of the job,” Hernandez explains.

Everyone’s Included
Every position at B.R. Guest has a specific checklist. When employees arrive, they clock in and go directly to the chef to get their lists. The lists start with the basics, like, “Do you have the proper uniform on when you clock in,” and then focuses on daily goals. Every list in the house includes questions such as, “How are you feeling?” If the employee is ill, he or she needs to communicate that to a manager. Other common questions are: “Are your gloves stocked?” “Is your thermometer accurate?” and, “Is your hand sink set up?”

From there, the topics get specific for each station. The list for employees working at the grill station, for example, reminds them to properly set up their beef and chicken, have the proper seasonings for the sauce, and keep a sharp eye on proper cooking times and temperatures.

Even the managers and chefs have checklists to follow. Cudden explains that they help employees avoid relying on their memories day after day, and keeps them from taking shortcuts.

Hernandez says it is important to have the checklist system at all levels. “Food safety should be part of everyone’s vocabulary. Hourly employees, crew managers, unit managers, midmanagers, CEOs,” he says. “Sure the hourly employee is important. But there’s a need for the managers to be involved, too. They can provide a constant reminder to everyone else.”

The checklists help B.R. Guest employees avoid relying on their memories and keep them from taking shortcuts.

Keep it Simple
Hernandez cautions that checklists should not be too cumbersome. “The temptation is to put too much information on the list. But if there’s too much, employees won’t follow it,” he says. He suggests including key topics like hand washing, temperature control and cooling.

Also, if the list isn’t worded correctly and very specifically, employees will find it difficult to follow, he says. “If an employee is not following the list, you have to step back and ask why. Is it too hard to understand? Is the proper equipment not in place? Lists can be a wonderful tool if used properly. If not, it’s just a list,” he adds.

Getting Practical with HACCP
B.R. Guest’s checklists have evolved since the company opened in 1987. The lists began as a way to keep tabs on operational procedures. But now they include the back of the house and center on food safety. “We want our employees to focus on risks without getting bogged down in the traditional HACCP program,” Cudden says.

Used in all segments of the food industry, HACCP, or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, is a systematic approach to food safety. It consists of principles including identifying significant hazards, describing preventive measures and outlining corrective actions.

For successful implementation, management must be strongly committed to the concept. But according to Cudden, it can be a challenge to get every employee to embrace the concept.

To ensure employees are following the lists, the chefs in each B.R. Guest establishment monitor every station, and Cudden visits units weekly.

“With HACCP, there is one process to follow all the way through your system. But in the restaurant environment, where there are so many menu items, it gets cumbersome,” she says. “So we’ve taken the principles and incorporated them into small, doable tasks. Instead of handing out a booklet on HACCP, we’ve broken down the risk factors to their stations.”

Cudden calls this “active, management control of food safety.” To ensure employees are following the lists, the chefs in each B.R. Guest establishment monitor every station. Management holds daily service-point meetings before lunch and dinner to review food safety, general safety and operational procedures with front- and back-of-the-house employees. Cudden also visits each restaurant weekly.

She is investigating remote-inspection systems that will allow her to log onto a computer and check recorded food temperatures at every unit. Cudden will also have every restaurant download results of self-inspections and have employees fax in temperature logs.

And, of course, she will ensure that every unit has the proper checklists.