Cultural Change Is Difficult

Recently, requirements have been defined regarding the formation of "culture" in accordance with international standards. When we mention culture, we often think of national cultures. It has become a recognized and important fact that there is also an organizational culture in institutions and organizations, which we notice and care about when we start working.

In workplaces, "Safety culture" should be developed in all areas such as occupational health, quality, information, food, and similar matters. In a workplace, the beliefs, perceptions, and values of employees create the culture. How many of you among us have heard an employer or authority say, "We provide training, yet it does not reflect in behaviors. In fact, employees don't even remember receiving training."

The issues of food and health are topics that concern and matter to all of us. The safety culture that will form and develop in this area greatly affects our lives. Food safety culture is a matter that should not be confused with food culture.

The EU 2021/382 regulation states that food safety culture is a concept, and that increasing the awareness and behaviors of employees enhances food safety. (March 2021)

Although we have not yet seen an update in the legislation on this matter, this concept has begun to enter the vocabulary of food companies through international standards and customer audits.

Product safety culture is very important for every product presented for human consumption. Unconscious behaviors during the production of products can lead to undesirable outcomes for the end consumer. When the business owner and upper management do not possess a product safety culture or do not provide guidance for its formation, it becomes difficult to ensure the continuity of the workplace.

If you are planning to create a product safety culture, remember:

• Awareness does not happen in a day; creating culture and ensuring change is difficult.

Because there are barriers we need to overcome in front of us. That is, ourselves.

• The barriers that a person places in accepting something new include previous experiences, knowledge, exposure, our differences, time constraints, environment, and most importantly, our attitudes.

Quality, food safety, and the implementation of many management systems in businesses face a fundamental problem experienced by managers and business owners: employees always want to do the job their own way.

When this is the case, even if you buy the most expensive machines, software, programs, and consulting services to get the job done, if the person working in the workplace is not ready to use them and cannot accept them, your imposition will not work.

You should not expect immediate results from every activity in the establishment of a product safety culture.

You need to give your employees time. You can tell them through training, or you can explain it on-site. The most effective way is to ensure that those who create the culture experience it firsthand.

For example, if you want to develop a cleaning culture, you should not say, "no matter how well we prepare the facility, the users keep it dirty" and build the facility with the worst materials. You can achieve behavioral change through various methods such as frequent warning systems, training, ensuring that the polluter cleans up, and most importantly, helping them understand the importance of cleanliness.

What you say may be forgotten, what you show may not be remembered, but what is experienced ensures understanding. —Confucius