Risk Reduction, Risk Perception, Motivating Factors, Human Factor Engineering and Training of Older Workers to Improve The Lives of Arkansans

Because of the newly enacted (15 Sept 16) Federal FSMA food safety regulations require that managers of FDA inspected food processing operations and their supply chains ensure all their employees are trained and qualified to perform their assigned duties. Managers must have written training plans to ensure their employees have the necessary combination of education, training, and/or experience that meet the requirements necessary to manufacture, process, pack, or hold clean and safe food. Individuals must receive training in the principles of food hygiene and food safety, including the importance of employee health and personal hygiene. Employee training also plays a critical role in USDA inspected facilities Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Good Manufacturing Practices and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedure (SSOP) programs. Recently the National Institute of Food and Agriculture surveyed several establishments and determined that 65% of them characterized
training as very important, with highest interest in the areas of HACCP regulatory updates, cleaning and sanitation, detection and control of pathogens and Escherichia coli regulations. Reasons given for not having a training program included lack of time, lack of funds and lack of access to appropriate training resources.I. Training:Documenting food safety training, especially for new employees is mandatory under FSMA and HACCP. The food industry in general and the poultry industry in this particular must make adaptions to accommodate the needs of a more diverse group of new employees including older workers who may have been displaced from their previous employment. There are additional serious implications for younger workers, especially women, who will have increasing responsibilities to care for aging parents. This may be especially true here in Arkansas where the poverty rates are among the highest in the nation. For single Hispanic and African American women over the age of 65,
the poverty rate is 40.8% and 30.7% respectively. Paid caregivers are not a possibility for these older women so their care falls back on family members, typically women, or the State. One study found more than half, 52%, of women making below $35,000 spent more than 20 hours per week providing care to an elderly person--often a relative. https://www.caregiver.org/women-and-caregiving-facts-and-figuresThe overall objective of this phase of this research is to create deliverables through pilot projects from a cross-functional team organized into the Center for Aging Research in the Environment and Services (CARES). As part of the team, Food Science faculty are focusing on approaches that have been identified as training needs for older workers within the marketplace and a logically supported plan to meet those needs. We will also develop research based strategies for policy makers to minimize individual impacts on older workers and their families.In addition, we need to know the
demographics and the increased risk to older workers for injury or death on the job. Are older workers injured or killed at a higher rate than younger workers under differing environmental conditions? http://www.bls.gov/iif/Objective 1): Identify unmet needs of older workers in the food industry here in Arkansas as they age productively. Once we have this base-line information we will verify motivational and effective training methods to impact long-term changes in OW's behaviors. We will do this with an eye to anticipate physical declines in OW's range of motion limits and changes in sensory perception.Objective 2) Develop and verify the effectiveness of innovative trainings for OW initially targeting new employee "on-boarding" training. This will be followed by designing the methodology to enhance the effectiveness of the newly developed, innovative trainings. We will initially target "on-boarding" of new employees in the poultry industry.II. Preventive Controls:There are a
number of unique aspects of the FSMA among one of the most prominent is the emphasis on Risk-based Preventive Controls. In addition to the new and OW trainings just proposed we need to conduct research to contribute to the basic understanding of the biology of foodborne pathogens. Toward that end we will enlarge the scope by:Objective 3) Understanding the risks posed by Listeria monocytogenes in its Viable But Non-Culturable, VBNC state. Part of risk assessment will be to compare different laboratory techniques that impact direct plate counts. Both of these objectives can affect the Risk-based Preventive Control under FSMA.Objective 4) Once hazards have been identified and their likelihood to occur estimated, food handlers must develop, validate and verify the effectiveness of their written Food Safety plans to mitigate these hazards. On a macro scale we will compare the costs and benefits of complying with global food safety standards such as the Global Food Safety Consortium, GFSI
and the third party audits. In addition we will:Examine novel food processing technologies such as High Pressure Processing, HPP that maintains the natural biological active compounds in raw milk, but minimizes the risks from foodborne pathogens. This novel technology must meet FDA requirements developed for thermal pasteurization of milk. Both the implications for improved sustainability and reduction of greenhouse gases will also be examined.Objective 5) Outreach. These basic research findings must be communicated to users in the market place. In addition to our typical outlets for our research findings we will expand our outreach to include:Work cooperatively with colleagues in Supply Chain Management support their educational efforts on FSMA to the logistics industry.In child care classrooms we will identify individual, environmental, and institutional factors that influence handwashing practices among parents and teachers of young children through observation and distribution of
a survey questionnaire.