Handwashing: The Game-Changing Scale For Success in 2012

Poor hand hygiene has become the entrenched industry standard. Inability to implement broad risk-based interventions has resulted in hand hygiene being the  perennial winner of the title for "Single-most cited contributing factor in foodborne outbreaks." Year after year acceptance of poor handwashing behaviors has calcified the issue with a trail of frustration and repetitious trials of failing programs.  The common factor is the lack of measurement and the inability to sustain temporary enhancements. Everything routinely tried is rich in the sciences except for behavioral science and its attendant math. Think about changing your weight. First there is the commitment and then a scale to monitor success. Do you know anybody who has successfully dieted without a scale?  That is where we are at with hand hygiene.

Jerold R. Mande, USDA Former Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety put it this way What doesn't get measured doesn't get done. Food workers first need measurable objectives to understand expectations and build everyday confidence and professionalism. They need to know where they are at on the scale of success.

The PIC, Person-In-Charge, addition to the Model Food Code is a major success yet it appears to have done little to resolve the number one problem – poor hand hygiene. PICs need tools to measure, document and manage.  This is a call to all operators and their 30,000+ inspectors to be open to change and onboard in creating an environment of innovation in kitchens across the country. Start small. Pick the easiest first step. Inspectors are asked to bring their full compliment of coaching skills and help operators build a hand cleanliness culture tailored to the establishment.  This presentation serves up a menu of three easy to adopt measures to improve hand hygiene standards. It starts with a new way to look at raising the handwashing priority for the workers. Second, is a series of examples of successful compliance monitoring techniques. Finally, a case is made to measure surface cleanliness – for those surfaces most likely to contaminate hands and the food prepared and served.