How Prioritizing Employee Health and Wellness Can Impact Food Safety

In November 2021, an ill food handler at an Australian bakery caused a norovirus outbreak. Initially confined to 11 customers who purchased donuts from a specific shop, researchers traced the spread of the virus through their personal networks and found the outbreak affected more than 200 people. 

Frontline workers in the food and beverage industry have an outsized impact on public health — which is why it’s so important that they are healthy themselves. Companies can prevent future outbreaks and reduce their risk by simply prioritizing the health and wellness of their workers. Here’s how: 

Educate employees about the impact their health has on food safety 

Throughout every shift, frontline workers touch hundreds, maybe thousands of food and beverage products at some point in the production or distribution process. Failure to wash hands effectively after using the restroom always creates a public health risk, but even more so when a worker is ill, symptomatic, and contagious. It only takes one mistake to cause a major outbreak. 

Hold a formal training with all frontline employees to remind them of their role in minimizing the risk to public safety and the ethics of avoiding an outbreak. Reiterate that the Code of Federal Regulations requires employees to report symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, a sore throat accompanied by fever, yellowing of the eyes associated with jaundice, and open wounds and lesions that are draining. In addition, reinforce requirements that employees report diagnoses of and exposures to E. coli, Shigella, Salmonella Typhi, hepatitis A, and other pathogens. 

Allow more paid sick leave

The primary reason employees work while sick is because they can’t afford to lose pay. Unfortunately, this dynamic is inevitable given that more than 60% of low-wage workers don’t have access to paid sick days. Providing a safety net to employees so they can take time off when needed is one of the most effective ways employers can reduce risk of an outbreak — both at their facilities and among consumers. In addition, allowing employees time to recover from an illness can boost productivity and improve employee retention. 

Provide wellness resources to employees 

A survey by the American Institute of Stress found that as many as 83% of U.S. workers suffer from work-related stress, and a full quarter report their job is their primary source of stress. Over time, negative emotions and tension can weaken the immune system, creating a greater risk for illness. Fortunately, companies can help empower their workers to take better care of themselves by teaching breathing exercises to reduce their stress or inviting experts to provide nutrition counseling and education about healthy habits. Giving employees the resources to improve their health and well-being will reduce absenteeism as well as protect public health. 

Implement adaptive policies to prioritize employee wellness 

To provide employees with emergency time off, companies must also update policies and procedures to maintain shift coverage and avoid disruption to their operations. Review your current scheduling processes and determine how effectively you can adapt to absenteeism. On-call policies help managers safeguard schedules with alternates if a scheduled employee has to take time off. Cross-training is another effective strategy to help workers cover extra responsibilities when staff is low due to illness. 

Food safety begins with frontline workers 

Workers touch every part of a food and beverage product along the journey to consumers — from raw ingredients to final packaging. If they come to work with an illness, they put the entire public at risk. Training your employees to behave responsibly, take care of their health, and feel safe taking time off from work is a key strategy to preventing outbreaks and should be a part of your overall food safety program. 

However, creating an effective plan is difficult without the right expertise. AIB International has over 100 years of experience helping business leaders craft robust food safety plans, teach their employees how to follow them, and navigate the many food safety challenges of our time. Learn how to manage current and future health crises in our course “Food Safety and Sanitation Online.”