A Study of Food Safety Training and Associated Barriers to Effective Training Outcomes

The safety of food is fundamental to public health, businesses and wider society and effective food safety training is an essential element to ensure safe food reaches our consumers. This is true for all food business operators in all sectors of the food industry including food service, retail and manufacturing facilities. Not complying with food safety obligations can have a serious impact on human health and serious consequences for the food business operator. In 2015 the World Health Organisation reported that almost 1 in 10 people fall ill every year from eating contaminated food and 420,000 die as a result. Children under 5 years of age are particularly at risk, with 125,000 children dying from foodborne diseases every year. Food safety is a shared responsibility and governments, the food industry and individuals need to do more to make food safe and prevent foodborne diseases. The aim of this study is to identify the barriers and problems that may affect the outcomes of food safety training, by examining the methods of training used within the food industry and to identify what food businesses are currently pursuing in order to develop and improve their food safety training. This survey was conducted from October to December 2018 and 171 food businesses participated. Discussions with trainers were conducted in December 2018 and international responses were gathered in October 2018. The study identified that 95% of food businesses do provide food safety training for employees whereas 5% are non-compliant. A majority of food businesses (68%) chose in-house training as their main method of training and online/eLearning was the least preferred at 17%. Findings from this study showed that 85% of food businesses employ non-nationals, with Polish (58%) being the most common language spoken. Sixty percent of respondents believe that language may be a barrier to food safety standards, due to a general lack of understanding when training is conducted in English. Meanwhile, language barriers are used by some employees as an excuse to avoid implementing training appropriately. Incorporating a selection of languages may help to overcome that barrier. Overall, the study identified the main barriers to food safety training as; no interest amongst employees (92%), lack of understanding (89%) and lack of management support (85%). Therefore, it is recommended that a strong food safety culture is built into the food businesses. Blended learning, group work and experience sharing needs to be brought into training programmes, in order to get employee engagement and make training more interesting

Book Review: Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War

Nothing ever dies. Not the memories of war, not its trauma, not its controversies--and not the hope that we can one day extricate our present from our traumatic pasts in order to create a more peaceful future. This hope threads through Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War. The book is about war, identity, and memory, Nguyen tells us. His goal is to “beat….hearts back to life.” Our hearts, the hearts of the generations wounded, in different ways and to different extents, by war

Nursing faculty shortages: Perspectives from deans and directors of BSN programs

This study examined the shortage of nurse faculty in one Midwestern state. The purpose of the study was to identify facilitators and barriers to recruiting and retaining nurse faculty. Case studies were conducted, with the primary data source being semi-structured interviews with deans and directors of six nursing programs that offer the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. The interviews and a review of institutional artifacts informed the study. Rich, descriptive data gathered in this study revealed strategies employed by deans and directors, as they struggled to recruit and retain faculty at a time of burgeoning demand for the education of nurses. The single most important barrier was the lack of nurse faculty holding doctorate degrees that would make them eligible for promotion and tenure in their institution. The lower nurse faculty salaries when compared to clinical nursing salaries were identified as a significant barrier to recruitment of faculty. As identified by the deans and directors, factors that facilitate recruiting and retention of nurse educators included the presence of supportive administrators and research agendas anchored in collaborative relationships with a local healthcare system. The study affirmed prior research regarding the complexity of the issue and the need to identify successful practices, which will provide a long-term solution to the shortage of nurse faculty. The findings of this study provided guidance for deans and directors, as they work within their institution, to acquire the resources, including administrative support, for a comprehensive plan to address this shortage

4-H Youth Development Professionals’ Perceptions of Youth Development Core Competence

The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess the perceived level of competence among 4-H Youth Development Agents from a Southern state in the United States. The findings will be used to identify gaps in and opportunities for professional training and development experiences in supporting the competence and growth of youth professionals. Based on the 4-H Professional Research, Knowledge, and Competency Model (Stone & Rennekamp, 2004), youth development professionals rated their youth development competence in nine youth development core competency areas. Utilizing a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1=no knowledge to 5=expert, youth development professionals rated their youth development competence ranging from 3.12 to 3.54. According to an interpretive scale, youth development professionals rated their competence as intermediate. Staff felt most competent in the areas of current youth issues, career opportunities for youth, and family structures/relationships. Staff felt least competent in the area of mental development of youth. No one identified themselves as an expert in the areas of psychological development, emotional development, and current youth issues

Local authority views and use of the adult social care and carers survey

The first in a series of three blogs produced by the MAX project team which summarises the preliminary findings from an online survey conducted with local authority staff associated with the Adult Social Care Survey (ASCS) and Personal Social Services Survey of Adult Carers in England (PSS SACE or Carers’ Survey

Emerging themes and provisional ideas for how the toolkits developed during the MAX project can help local authorities maximise the use of data in adult social care

The third in a series of three blogs produced by the MAX project team which summarises the preliminary findings from an online survey conducted with local authority staff associated with the Adult Social Care Survey (ASCS) and Personal Social Services Survey of Adult Carers in England (PSS SACE or Carers’ Survey)

The factors that affect local authority use of adult social care and carers survey data

The second in a series of three blogs produced by the MAX project team which summarises the preliminary findings from an online survey conducted with local authority staff associated with the Adult Social Care Survey (ASCS) and Personal Social Services Survey of Adult Carers in England (PSS SACE or Carers’ Survey)