 Poor hygiene is among the biggest contributors to the spread of foodborne illness – and it can make seasonal illnesses easier to spread too. Make sure your staff receive reminders about proper handwashing technique, as well as which sinks are to be used for handwashing. Beyond that, reinforce your policy around the use of protective items like gloves and hairnets, as well as jewelry – rings, bracelets and watches can all harbor bacteria and be potential sources of cross-contamination. Staff should keep their own drinks covered with a lid and confined to break rooms.
 Restaurants are having to juggle tasks with smaller crews, so it might be easier to overlook tasks that aren’t exactly urgent but can still pose problems when not completed promptly. One example of this is the residue that can build up on your equipment – slime that accumulates on soda fountain nozzles and ice bins, grease in grease traps, and food particles that aren’t swept up can contaminate food, create fire hazards and attract pests. Are there areas of your operation that aren’t getting cleaned as well as they could? If so, make sure everyone is clear about how to complete these tasks – if they are on your schedule but not being completed effectively, some training may help.
 How well can you trust that your methods for labeling and storing food are helping you avoid cross-contamination and food spoilage? Check your inventory and make sure items are labeled correctly and that you’re following a first-in, first-out system for using ingredients. By labeling foods accurately and ensuring that you’re using them by their use-by date, you can minimize your waste and avoid triggering a potential foodborne illness or allergy.
 Across your restaurant and any additional locations you operate, do you have standard record-keeping systems, training processes, operating procedures and compliance tasks that apply across the board? Identifying any areas of your restaurant that are out of sync with other parts of your operation can go far in helping your business. You will be able to better identify patterns in your food safety and pinpoint varying interpretations of procedures that may generate problems. Your staff will learn the same skills in the same way. This helps you provide a consistent experience for your guests, as well as ensure that your staff from one location can easily slip into roles in a different location when labor needs or development opportunities arise. Finally, you demonstrate to regulators that you run a business that is committed to doing the right thing — as a result, you’ll be in a good position to work in partnership with them to build upon your strengths.
 When it comes to protecting your guests from pathogens, maintaining proper hand hygiene is the most important thing your staff can do. The most common cause of foodborne illness is spreading pathogens through touch and food can become contaminated quickly if those preparing and serving your food don’t maintain adequate hygiene or use personal protective equipment incorrectly. Hand washing, in combination with protective gear like food-grade gloves, are your best defenses. According to the CDC, thorough hand washing requires wetting hands with clean running water; applying soap; lathering both sides of the hands, between fingers and under fingernails; scrubbing hands for at least 20 seconds; rinsing hands under clean running water; and drying them with a clean towel or air dryer. Does your staff do a thorough enough job?
 As seasonal illnesses return and threaten to keep you from being fully staffed, don’t let preventable hazards around your facility contribute to staff absence. According to Markel Insurance, the most common injuries for restaurant employees include injuries from objects; slips, trips and falls; burns; injuries due to overexertion; chemicals and cleaners; electrical problems; and cold temperatures. It could be a good time to do an audit of these hazards in your restaurant and plan some training around how to avoid them, particularly if you have had employee injuries and insurance claims related to these problems before.
 As extreme weather becomes more common, more parts of the country that haven’t historically seen many hurricanes, floods or other extreme conditions must plan for the worst. Having an updated emergency plan can help you to keep your employees informed and safe, as well as protect the food you have in your inventory. Ensure you have an accurate list of emergency contacts including the Red Cross and other public health authorities, utility companies, your plumber, rental equipment firms, and suppliers of water and dry ice, for example, and ensure that your employees have access to it. The same goes for your emergency supplies. Have flashlights, batteries, tarps, first aid supplies and other emergency supplies on hand for during and after extreme weather events. If your facility has lost power but it’s otherwise safe to remain there, you’ll want to protect your inventory from spoilage. Know which items should take priority for placement in an ice bath, for example, and what might be safe left alone in the freezer for 24 hours. If your staff has been relying on digital tools to track and log the temperatures of foods and appliances, ensure they know how to manage these processes manually so you’re able to save as much of your inventory as possible.
 Have you digitized your food safety management yet? The benefits of doing so become especially clear when you’re operating multiple stores. You can run your food safety program from a centralized system that applies procedures and training consistently across the different operations. In addition to helping you pinpoint and respond to hazards quickly, a centralized system ensures your guests have a consistent experience with your brand regardless of where they encounter it — a major bonus if your guests can currently taste differences in the food served at your various locations. It enables real-time data analysis and response across all operations, so an error you detect in one store is one you can quickly prevent in another. This automatically feeds into comprehensive reports that you can analyze across stores. You will more readily spot outliers that may need attention — something that also casts your brand in a favorable light with regulators when it comes to compliance.
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