Safety protocol recommendations for Sopranos Smallgoods company

Sopranos Smallgoods

Safe handling practices are essential in the food industry. First and foremost, because of the use of sharp objects such as cleavers and slicers, there is the real risk of serious injury to workers on a daily basis. Secondly, it is also essential that workers engage in safe handling of food products to avoid contamination of the items. Regulations exist on both the federal and state level to ensure that appropriate safety protocols are observed. However, because it began as a relatively small, family-run operation, there is a lack of standardized operating procedures being observed at Smallgoods. The fact Smallgoods has evolved into a much larger and more complex organization has not translated into observing standardized safety precautions because of a failure of leadership. This failure must be addressed to ensure that no injuries occur to workers or customers. As well as becoming more aware of external laws and safety regulations, the company must set its own internal standards and create safety procedures and mechanisms to ensure that safe behavior is the rule rather than the exception at Smallgoods.

Most notably, there is a lack of follow-through by the head of the organization. Vincenzo Soprano, the CEO, claims he has invested money in safe handling equipment but that workers and supervisors are not following through with these directives. This rather hopeless attitude on the part of the top leadership must change: the organization must create a series of incentives to demand that workers follow protocols and supervisors enforce them. A serious injury or death on the premises would not only be a tragedy for the company and the workers: it would also bring costly lawsuits and negative publicity that could seriously threaten the future of the organization. The leadership must make safety a priority the same way they do quality standards about food taste and productivity goals. Such an attitude that nothing can be done about workers' refusal to adhere to standards and managers' refusal to make them do so would be unacceptable in other areas of the business.

First, workers performance must be evaluated not only on how much they produce but also upon how closely they adhere to safety standards. Workers should receive a grade on safety practices, just as they receive a grade on other aspects of their performance. Workers who go above and beyond the call of duty on this performance measure should receive additional rewards and bonuses, just as they do in other aspects of their workplace performance.

Similarly, managers should be graded upon the number of safety problems evident in the areas they supervise and the extent to which they and their workers adhere to such protocols should be a critical part of how their performance is reviewed. Managers will have an incentive to ignore safety needs and focus on short-term productivity goals unless they are held accountable.

A third, equally important step in improving safety is appropriate training. Although workers may know the theory behind safe practices, they may not be sure how to implement this in their everyday work lives. Training new workers and having training updates for existing workers is essential. This should be integrated into the corporate calendar, just like all other forms of training. One common problem which arises regarding worker training is the assumption that effective practices can be solved with simple common sense, but that is not always the case. "Even a highly skilled and experienced worker should be given instruction to meet your expectations of how the job will be done. If you know certain techniques that can make doing a certain job safer, be sure to share them with your workers. Counting on common sense to keep workers safe is a recipe for disaster. Common sense isn't always common practice" (La Duke 2014). Common sense is often thrown to the sidelines when workers are forced to meet deadlines. Also, in the current corporate culture, the desire to preserve one's job can sometimes cause common sense safety precautions to be sidelined. Management must make it clear that safety is part of job excellence, not incidental to it.

A fourth step, improved job design, can also enhance workplace safety standards. HR can rewrite job descriptions so that adherence to safety standards is integrated into the job description and thus is not seen as incidental to overall worker performance. Safety training can be made part of the job requirements for entrance and progression in the workplace and over time, HR can create specific safety certifications which must be achieved regarding knowledge of appropriate handling practices for food and equipment.

HR should demonstrate that the workplace genuinely cares about worker safety by investing in workers and investing in worker's development, including providing opportunities for workers to improve their fitness and safety, which will also translate into better operating of equipment and more safe and careful actions around the product. This might include subsidizing a gym membership or providing on-site fitness classes to enhance workers' physical development. Workers will have a more positive view of themselves and the organization because of this investment in their fitness.