Food Safety Culture Questionnaire

This questionnaire has been designed to measure the food safety culture at xxxxxxx. We
ask that everyone completes this survey including the entire management team, Office
team and production operatives. This survey is anonymous, and we cannot link you to
your answers, this is to enable you to answer as honestly as possible. The results of this
survey will be used to put actions in place which will improve the food safety culture of
the business.

Please indicate which section you work in, supervisors please mark yourselves as part of
the management team
Kitchen / Washing up

Filling

Rolling

Packing / Warehouse

Management

Office

Business Priorities and Attitudes

How important do you feel food safety is to the business?

Extremely Important, ensuring food is safe is always top priority

Very Important, Food Safety is one of the top priorities
Somewhat important, it becomes Important when something goes wrong
No so Important, getting the job done is the main concern
Not at all Important, it is not thought about much

Please put the following in order of importance to the company

A. Cost
B. Waste
C. People
D. Quality of end product
E. Food Safety

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How Strongly do you agree with the following statement? It is more important to get product out of
the door, than to produce product that is the right quality?

Strongly Agree
Agree
Not Sure
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

How Strongly do you agree with the following statement? “As a company we always do the right
thing by our customers”

Strongly Agree
Agree
Not Sure
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

Food Safety Risk Perceptions and Knowledge

How strongly do you agree with the following statements? -

“When people in my team ignore food safety rules and procedures, I feel that it is not my problem”

Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

“If we don’t follow all of the food safety rules and procedures our customers are not really at any
risk”

Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

On the following scale, at which point would a product be unfit to be dispatched

When the quality is borderline

When the quality is unacceptable
When there is a possibility it is unsafe to eat
Only when it is definitely 100% unsafe to eat
Never, it is always safe to dispatch it

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Confidence in Food Hygiene and Safety Requirements

How effective do you feel the food safety rules and procedures such as good personal hygiene, hand
washing and cleaning of your work area and equipment are in preventing food borne illness and
disease?

I believe that these procedures are essential to effectively control food safety issues
I understand the benefits and importance of these procedure
I don’t really know if these procedures are important, but I will comply with them
I doubt that these procedures are important and that they can prevent food safety issues
I don’t really care if the food safety procedures are effective

How do the food safety rules and procedures affect your daily routine?

They don’t, they are essential and are part of my daily routine
They can slow things down, but I understand the importance of following them
I don’t really know, I am told I need to follow them, so I do
They are an annoyance which gets in the way of what I am doing
They don’t affect me as I don’t waste my time with them

Business Ownership of Food Safety and Hygiene

How committed are the owners to food safety?

Very committed, they often talk with all staff about it

Committed, it is talked about regularly with supervisors
Somewhat committed, they talk about it sometimes at meetings or inspections and audits
They talk about it when things go wrong
Not Committed, they don’t do or say anything much about food safety

How committed are the directors and management (Factory manager, Operations manager, Quality
control manager, Food safety and health and safety manager) to food safety?

Very committed, they often talk with all staff about it

Committed, it is talked about regularly with supervisors
Somewhat committed, they talk about it sometimes at meetings or inspections and audits
They talk about it when things go wrong
Not Committed, they don’t do or say anything much about food safety

How committed are the supervisors and their no 2’s to food safety?

Very committed, they often talk with all staff about it

Committed, it is talked about regularly with supervisors
Somewhat committed, they talk about it sometimes at meetings or inspections and audits
They talk about it when things go wrong
Not Committed, they don’t do or say anything much about food safety

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Who is responsible for making the food safe?

Everyone at all levels

Specific people (e.g Food Safety Manager, Supervisors, Directors, The Owner)
The owner and company directors
The Owner
I don’t know, this information has not been communicated to us

Do you feel that food safety information checked and used to make improvements? E.g. Information
gained from non-conformances and trial runs etc.

Yes, all the time. It is continually collected and assessed to check what is going on, identify food
safety risks and make plans for improvements
Yes, quite a lot. It is included in regular updates in meetings and in discussions about preventing
problems in the future
Yes, Sometimes. The food safety manager checks it and reports any problems
No not really, it is recorded in case someone asks for it later
No, never

Competence, Learning Training and Knowledge

How much Food safety training is offered to you?

Induction training plus regular refresher training, extra courses and on the job mentoring
Induction training for new staff, annual refreshers and sometimes extra if required
Induction training for new staff and sometimes some extra if required
Minimal training is offered, management assume it is common sense
No food safety training is offered, if I want to learn something I have to do it myself

Do you colleagues show an awareness of food safety in their daily jobs, that is do they always put
their knowledge and training into practice?

Everyone has food safety as their top priority and does thing properly all the time
Their supervisors or peers make sure they do
I assume they do
Probably not, especially if they are really busy or no-one is watching
No, Never

How would you rate the training you receive?

Excellent
Very Good
Good
Barely Adequate
Poor / Inadequate

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Leadership on food hygiene

How does the management team encourage good hygiene?

Staff are frequently encouraged to apply food hygiene procedures, explain why they are necessary
and applaud good practice
Management Provide a good example and challenge poor hygiene practices
Leadership around food hygiene is inconsistent and follows instruction from regulators e.g. Auditors,
EHO’s
Leaders fail to act as a role model of good food safety behaviours and express cynicism to staff. Poor
food hygiene practice remains unchallenged
Management encourages non-compliance except when there is a risk of enforcement and there is
no attempt to provide suitable equipment e.g. hand wash facilities

Employee engagement in review and development of food hygiene practices

How involved are you and your colleagues in the review and development of hygiene practices?

Management actively seek employee views on how to improve hygiene

Employee engagement is accepted to help comply with regulation
Low employee engagement as development and application of practices and procedures is driven by
regulators and other third parties
Low employee engagement as there is doubt over the significance of the hazards posed by poor
food hygiene. Employee suggestions/input is not considered by management
Minimal staff engagement, doctorial approach to “managing” staff or simply do not seek staff
opinion

Communications and trust to engage in food hygiene and report issues

How are food safety problems or complaints addressed?

Strategic and proactive, continuously monitoring, thinking ahead and implementing preventative
actions before issues arise
Strong response, e.g. issues identified, fixed and tested to conform no upstream or downstream
effects
Minimal response just fixed enough to pass inspection
Negative response e.g. nothing is changed, or person is blamed
No response

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What is the general situation like in the workplace, especially in terms of staff reporting problems,
questioning procedures or suggesting improvements?

Very strong and supportive, e.g. we all communicate openly, often and in both directions and we do
have a range of ways to do this at any time
Pretty strong and flexible, e.g. staff are encouraged to bring up problems or suggestions anytime and
there are meetings, suggestions boxes, email contacts etc to do this in different ways
Fair but formal e.g. Staff know they can talk with managers during meetings or inspections and
audits
Minimal engagement, e.g. management generally don’t need or get much input from general staff,
staff are not encouraged to speak to managers about food safety. Management make derogatory
comments about food safety / hygiene requirements
No engagement, e.g. there is no way to report problems or suggestions or staff are actively
discouraged from reporting concerns

Do you have any further suggestions or comments?

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