 A gastrointestinal virus like norovirus can quickly wipe out your team, along with significant numbers of guests. Last year, a norovirus outbreak in North Carolina made headlines when more than 240 people complained of illness after dining at a sushi restaurant. The health risks are even more pronounced for residents and staff in adult care and senior living facilities, where high concentrations of people with weakened immune systems live in close proximity. Norovirus causes about half of all outbreaks of food-related illness – and it can spread to any food served raw or handled after being cooked. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most reported norovirus outbreaks are caused by people who touch or prepare food when they are sick, or by food that comes from contaminated water.
Now is a good time to remind staff of the risks, make sure frequently touched surfaces are regularly cleaned and sanitized, and refine a staffing plan to make sure you’re ready when illness strikes this season. People who are infected with norovirus can shed billions of norovirus particles in their feces or vomit. A person is most contagious when they feel sick with norovirus and during the first few days after they feel better. (Food workers should stay home when sick and for at least 48 hours after symptoms stop.) If a person works with food when they have norovirus, they can easily contaminate the food and drinks they touch. People who consume those contaminated items can also contract norovirus and become sick. It’s important for people who are sick to not prepare, serve, or touch food for others; to wash produce and cook seafood carefully; to practice proper hand hygiene; and to clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces after someone has become ill.  If your state is among the many that have experienced major heatwaves so far this year, take note of a new rule in California that may gain traction in other states. The state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board recently approved a standard on heat exposure that impacts indoor workplaces. As Restaurant Dive explains, employers who are covered by the new rule must provide their workers with access to clean drinking water and cool-down areas that are located away from radiant heat sources, where workers can sit without touching each other, and where the air temperature is below 82 degrees, unless employers can demonstrate this isn’t workable. It’s worth noting that workplace demonstrations protesting high kitchen temperatures have occurred in a number of states around the country. Free access to water, adequate air conditioning, and protective equipment that keeps workers cooler can all help improve conditions for workers – both in protecting your restaurant’s business culture as well as its food safety.
 Nothing can spoil a guest’s appetite like being served by an employee who is clearly under the weather. On the flip side, providing an environment that feels safe to guests makes a positive statement about your hospitality. Now that we’re in the season where viruses are common – and guests are especially eager to stay healthy for festive occasions around the holidays – review your health protocols with staff. Monitor employees for signs of illness, reiterate your policy about when it’s necessary to stay home, and consider encouraging employees to stay up-to-date with flu and COVID vaccines. Since a clearer policy about staff health may result in more absences, identify potential back-up supports that may help you keep up with traffic – from retooling staff scheduling, to using more speed-scratch ingredients that make preparation easier.
 It’s Friday night and three of your staff have called in sick. When this happens, would you ever ask the person who seems the least sick to still come in…just for a couple of hours? It can be tempting for short-staffed restaurants to make such a request, but this can have significant consequences. According to Francine Shaw and Matthew Regusci, food safety experts who host a podcast about the topic, more than 40 percent of restaurant foodborne illness outbreaks are caused by employees coming to work sick. What’s more, Shaw said only about 23 percent of restaurants have written policies in place telling employees not to come to work sick. As flu season approaches again, make sure you and your staff are clear on what symptoms should prevent them from coming to work. Some symptoms are clearer than others. Vomiting and diarrhea are among the clearer ones. But how about a sore throat, mild fever or bad cold? Make sure your policy is clear – and don’t be afraid to tell customers that their order may take a little longer because you’re short-staffed due to illness. Explain that you’re just trying to keep them safe.
 After more than two years of uneasiness over the first signs of sickness — and uncertainty over whether a mild cough was the start of the flu, Covid, a cold, or nothing at all — we’re likely in for more of the same this year. Review your procedures for staff sickness, absence and substitute coverage this season so you can bring as much clarity as possible to a murky issue. If you have relaxed standards around masking and other personal protective equipment over the summer, it may be time to reinstate them in the interest of protecting staff and guests from illness.
 For consumers with food allergies, eating out can be a minefield. But restaurants that earn the trust of these guests stand to win customers for life. To send the clear message that you take food allergies and sensitivities seriously, get out in front with your messaging. Online, ensure your website includes ingredient lists and identifies common allergens – that information can easily help an allergic guest decide in advance to eat with you. In your restaurant, post a QR code that guests can scan for allergen-specific information – and ensure it’s in plain sight on menus and in the locations where guests place orders.
 At the start of the pandemic, many restaurant industry experts noted that “safety has become the new hospitality.” Nearly two years later, that continues to be true, and the beneficiaries of this hospitality are not only customers but also employees. In fact, at a time when hospitality employee turnover has hit record highs, FSR Magazine suggests operators make a concerted effort to market their employee safety. This is especially important as we approach the winter months. Think about it: If people are eager to get out of the house for a meal in the midst of flu season, they want to be extra sure that their server isn’t working while under the weather – or that they aren’t taking unnecessary risks by going out to enjoy a meal. Your employees (and prospective employees) also want some assurance that you are doing all you can to keep them healthy at work, while also respecting their need to miss a shift if they do become ill. Recent research found that the especially high turnover rate in the hospitality industry in recent months is due, in part, to employee concerns about getting sick while on the job. Consider what you can do to incentivize employee health – vaccination bonuses are just one example – and then promote your policy on your website and social media.
 The likelihood of lingering COVID-19 infections, along with other seasonal illnesses, could make staffing more challenging this winter. To help ensure you’re doing all you can to minimize the spread of infection on your team and help your employees feel safe coming to work, consider how you can adjust your procedures to make employee-guest interactions safer and more efficient. Encourage guests to review your menu, order and pay via QR code. Consider adopting tableside technology that allows a guest to push a button if they need help so your staff can visit tables only when needed. Adjust your procedures for delivering and clearing dishes so your staff aren’t having to stand close to each person in a party. Where possible, stagger seating throughout your indoor and outdoor dining areas to minimize congestion. Finally, listen to employees who have concerns about sickness this winter and encourage the team to share possible solutions – making them feel heard can go a long way in making them feel safe.
 This winter, we could be in for yet another season in which the spread of viruses makes people hesitant to eat out. Now is a good time to ensure your indoor dining areas feel as safe as possible. While it’s more common for COVID-19 to spread through close contact with an infected person, airborne transmission can occur in spaces with poor ventilation. The CDC advises you have your ventilation systems checked to make sure they are operating efficiently, and also increase the circulation of outdoor air by opening windows and doors and prioritizing outdoor seating. Also consider running your HVAC system at maximum outdoor airflow for two hours before and after it is occupied, checking filters for proper installation and function, and possibly improving the engineering controls of the system to enhance ventilation efficiency.
 New safety standards are in the pipeline that could impact your procedures and the frequency of inspections for back-of-house workers exposed to dangerous heat. In response to increased episodes of record-breaking outdoor temperatures in recent months, the Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) is drafting new standards for restaurant kitchens in an effort to encourage practices like having cold water readily accessible, providing breaks to allow workers to cool off, and helping new workers to gradually build a tolerance to heat, Restaurant Business reports. While the final rules won’t become regulations for a number of months, expect an increase in inspections that cover these practices in the meantime.
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