Active Managerial Control: A Beginner’s Guide

As the manager, you have many responsibilities, one of which is training your staff on food safety principles and making sure they follow them.

It’s one thing to know and understand food safety principles, and another to apply them on the job.

This is where active managerial control comes in.

Active managerial control is a system of practices and procedures intended to prevent foodborne illnesses by actively controlling foodborne illness risks and hazards throughout the flow of food. It’s an excellent way to ensure employees follow food safety principles at your establishment.

As the word “actively” implies, this system is proactive, not reactive. In other words, you must anticipate risks and hazards and establish practices and procedures to prevent them, rather than merely reacting to them after they occur.

This article provides an overview of active managerial control and how to apply each of its components at your food establishment as a food safety manager.

The three components of active managerial control

At its core, there are three components of active managerial control:

1. Identify hazards
2. Control hazards through training
3. Monitor

Here’s an overview of each and how to apply them at your food establishment.

Step 1: Identify hazards

The first step of active managerial control is to identify the various types of hazards associated with food and its preparation at your establishment.

Remember, a food hazard is any biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause food to be unsafe for customers.

A good place to start is this list of the most significant contributing factors to foodborne illness:

• Purchasing food from unsafe sources
• Inadequate cooking
• Improper holding temperatures
• Contaminated equipment
• Poor personal hygiene

Create a policy for each hazard that you identify. A policy is a set of procedures that clearly explain what actions need to occur to prevent or eliminate food hazards in your establishment.

Policies are often referred to as standard operating procedures or SOPs.

SOPs are a set of written instructions that detail the step-by-step processes that a person must take to complete an action or perform a routine.

SOPs aren’t unique to food service — every business operation uses them.

The policies and procedures in your establishment will be unique to your preparation processes and needs. 

For example, handwashing is important in any food establishment, but if you work at an establishment that primarily serves a highly susceptible population, handwashing and good personal hygiene might be your biggest food safety risk. 

Alternatively, for a food establishment that specializes in preparing and serving raw seafood dishes, proper temperature control and seafood handling procedures become especially important, as the risk of foodborne illness from pathogens like Vibrio species is increased.

For each risk that you identify, create a Standard Operating Procedure so food workers know how to control that hazard.

You don’t need to create all your policies at once. Start with the hazard that is likely to cause the most harm if it’s not controlled, then create another. Continue creating policies for each hazard you identify. It works well to create a list as you come across them and check them off once you have completed the policy. If you have existing policies, see whether they can be improved or updated to ensure the hazard is being adequately controlled.

Step 2: Control hazards through training

After you identify the various hazards in your establishment and create a policy for each on how to control these hazards, you must train your employees on these policies.

If employees aren’t trained on a policy, the policy won’t do your establishment much good. But, when employees are familiar with and follow the policy, your establishment is a much safer place when it comes to food safety.

Whether your staff are new to foodservice or have years of experience, they must understand the importance of consistent food safety measures.

You will encounter a wide variety of diversity among your staff, which can bring challenges, especially in keeping food safe.

For example, your workers may speak different languages. This can make it hard to communicate about food safety. Even if you speak the same language, employees may interpret the same information differently based on their background. You may need to find creative ways to communicate with each of your employees.

Another challenge is that a lot of our workers are new and might not know much about keeping food safe. Even if they’ve had some training, they might forget important concepts. Therefore, assume that those who begin working at your establishment have little to no food safety knowledge.

Start with the basics. Ensure that employees understand food safety principles and why it’s important to adhere to them. They shouldn’t just memorize behaviors.

Schedule regular training sessions for our staff. These sessions should cover basic things like washing hands properly, keeping food at the right temperature, and preventing cross-contamination. Keeping good records of who attends these trainings will help us make sure everyone is trained on what they need to know.

Step 3: Monitor

The third step of active managerial control is to monitor. This means observing workers to determine whether they are following the established policies.

Remember, creating policies and providing training on the policies isn’t a guarantee that employees will follow them. Monitoring keeps your staff accountable and helps you verify whether workers are following your training and if your policies require modification based on what you observe.

Observe your staff as they work, giving extra attention to behaviors or skills on which they were recently trained. This will give you a good idea of whether your workers understand and follow the policies. Monitoring can be especially useful for employees who like to take shortcuts, but of course, it’s useful for all staff.

Because people tend to modify their behavior if they know they’re being observed, it’s also important to check their work when they are not there to ensure the work was conducted and completed per policy.

The bottom line

Active managerial control is essential because it recognizes that food safety is an ongoing process that requires constant vigilance and adaptation. It involves continuously identifying hazards, controlling those hazards through training and standard operating procedures, and monitoring to ensure effectiveness.

By implementing active managerial control, managers demonstrate a commitment to continually improving practices and enhancing safety in their establishment. This proactive approach helps mitigate risks, prevents foodborne illnesses, and fosters a culture of excellence and accountability in food safety management.

You can increase safety by using active managerial control with an HACCP plan.