Restaurant Safety Killer™ #2: NOT™

Young employees often walk into their first restaurant job ready to learn. 

During orientation, they may hear about slips and falls, burns, knives, hot equipment, chemicals, lifting, emergency procedures, and dozens of other things they need to know to work safely. A manager may walk them through the kitchen, explain the rules, hand them an employee handbook, show them a video, or pair them with an experienced employee who teaches them on the job.

So yes.

They were trained.

But what happens after that?

Three months later, that nervous new employee isn't quite so nervous anymore. Six months later, they've performed the same tasks hundreds of times. Eventually, shortcuts, habits, and complacency can creep in.

That's when NOT™ is happiest.

Restaurant Safety Killer™ #2—NOT (No Ongoing Training)—doesn't need your young employees to be completely untrained.

He just needs their training to become old enough, distant enough, and forgotten enough that it isn't there when they need it.

Youth Safety Training Isn't One-and-Done

Young workers can be enthusiastic, capable, and quick learners. But many are also entering the workforce with limited job experience and little understanding of the hazards that experienced restaurant employees have learned to recognize.

That makes their initial training extremely important.

It also makes ongoing training important.

A young employee may learn during orientation that floors should be cleaned a certain way, knives should be handled using specific procedures, chemicals should never be mixed, or certain equipment shouldn't be operated without proper training.

But hearing something once isn't the same as building a lasting safety habit.

Safety habits develop through repetition, reinforcement, supervision, and experience. When safety training disappears after orientation, employees are left to remember everything they learned while simultaneously becoming faster, more independent, and more comfortable in their jobs.

That's exactly the environment NOT™ likes.

Your Young Employees May Have Been Trained. But Do They Still Remember It?

Think about how much information a new restaurant employee receives during the first few days of work.

They're learning where everything is located, how to clock in, how schedules work, who their managers are, how to use the POS system, where supplies are stored, how food is prepared, what side work needs to be completed, how to interact with guests, how to clean their station, and what they're expected to accomplish before going home.

Somewhere in the middle of all that information is safety training.

Months later, how much of it do you expect them to remember?

This is where ongoing training becomes so valuable.

Training introduces the information. Ongoing training keeps it accessible.

A short refresher about burns, cuts, lifting, chemical safety, slips and falls, or another restaurant hazard can bring important information back to the front of an employee's mind before they need it.

Experience Can Actually Create New Safety Problems

There's an interesting change that happens as young employees become more experienced.

At first, they tend to be cautious.

They don't know the kitchen yet. They haven't used the equipment hundreds of times. They may ask questions before doing something unfamiliar because they aren't completely sure what they're doing.

Then they get comfortable.

That's usually a good thing. Confidence and experience help employees become productive members of the team.

But comfort can also create opportunities for shortcuts.

An employee who once carefully followed every procedure may eventually think, I've done this a hundred times.

They've carried that hot pan before.

They've used that knife every shift.

They've cleaned that piece of equipment dozens of times.

They've crossed that wet kitchen floor without falling.

Nothing happened yesterday.

Nothing happened last week.

So the risk begins to feel smaller.

That's where ongoing safety training matters. It isn't always about teaching employees something they don't know. Sometimes it's about reminding experienced employees of something they already know but may no longer consistently do.

Young Workers' Responsibilities Can Change Faster Than Their Training

There is another reason one-time orientation training isn't enough for young restaurant employees.

Their jobs change.

An employee may begin by bussing tables and later start working around food preparation equipment. A host may eventually help with closing duties. A dishwasher may begin performing additional kitchen tasks. Someone hired for one position may gradually be asked to help in several areas as they become more experienced.

As responsibilities change, the hazards employees encounter can change too.

That means the safety information they received on their first day may no longer match everything they're doing today.

Managers should also remember that federal and state child labor rules can restrict the hours minors may work and the types of equipment or tasks they may perform. Ongoing attention to youth safety gives managers another opportunity to make sure young employees are performing appropriate tasks and understand how to perform the work they're permitted to do safely.

Bad Habits Can Be Learned From Good Employees

Young employees don't learn only from formal training.

They learn by watching.

That's one of the realities of restaurant operations.

A young employee may have been taught the correct procedure during orientation, but then spend the next several months working beside experienced employees who have developed shortcuts of their own.

Eventually, what employees see every day can begin to compete with what they were originally taught.

If an experienced employee takes a shortcut and nothing happens, a younger employee may assume the shortcut is safe.

Then the shortcut becomes a habit.

And eventually the habit simply becomes how we do things here.

Ongoing safety training gives managers an opportunity to interrupt that cycle and regularly bring everyone back to the restaurant's actual safety expectations.

Ongoing Training Builds Safer Habits

The purpose of ongoing safety training isn't to repeatedly sit employees in a room and give them the same orientation presentation.

Restaurants don't have time for that.

Restaurants never slow down.

That's why safety has to fit the way restaurants actually operate.

Short, focused training throughout the year allows managers to reinforce one important safety topic at a time. Employees revisit hazards they encounter every day, newer employees learn information they may not have received yet, and experienced employees get reminders that can help keep shortcuts from becoming accepted habits.

Over time, that consistency matters.

Because safety isn't something employees should simply know.

It needs to become something they routinely do.

The REST Compliance Protection System™ Makes Ongoing Training Simple

The REST Compliance Protection System™ was designed to help busy restaurant managers make ongoing safety training part of normal restaurant operations.

The Restaurant Safety Calendar™ organizes the year into 13 four-week Safety Cycles, each focused on an important restaurant safety topic. Employees complete focused training, reinforce what they've learned with a 10-question situational quiz, and receive a personalized certificate after successfully completing the course.

Managers don't have to wonder what safety topic they should cover next or create new training from scratch.

The system gives them a simple rhythm for keeping safety in front of employees throughout the year.

And because restaurants hire continuously, that ongoing cycle can be especially valuable for young workers who may enter the restaurant at different times, move into new responsibilities, or simply need important safety lessons reinforced as they gain experience.

Part of Safety Cycle #9

This article is part of Safety Cycle #9: Youth Safety in the Restaurant Safety Calendar™.

Youth safety is an ideal place to begin the calendar because protecting young employees requires more than telling them the rules on their first day.

They need proper initial training, appropriate supervision, safe job assignments, and continued reinforcement as they become more comfortable and their responsibilities evolve.

The Restaurant Safety Calendar™ helps managers keep that reinforcement going by moving through a different safety focus every four weeks.

Instead of safety being something that happened during orientation, it becomes something employees continue learning throughout the year.

Don't Let NOT™ Win

NOT™ loves one-and-done training.

He loves hearing, "Oh, we covered that during orientation."

Because NOT™ doesn't need your employees to be completely untrained.

He just needs their training to become old enough, distant enough, and forgotten enough that it isn't there when they need it.

Young employees deserve better than that.

They deserve safety information that grows with them as they gain experience, take on new responsibilities, and become more confident in their jobs.

The REST Compliance Protection System™ helps restaurants keep safety training going throughout the year with the Restaurant Safety Calendar™, focused employee training, 10-question quizzes, certificates, and simple manager tools that make consistency possible.

Because training an employee once is a start.

Making sure they still remember it is how you keep NOT™ from winning.