California’s newest set of workplace-health regulations is geared to simmer down heat-related illnesses in indoor workplaces and is set to make things much better for all us folks employed in the restaurant industry. As we know, it’s one thing to crave fiery flavor, but no one wants to suffer for their craft. In this article we look at how the new set of regulations aim to melt away heat-related suffering in the workplace, and in particular, in commercial kitchens.

The legislation, known as the California Code of Regulations Title 8 Section 3396 outlines a range of guidelines which employers can follow to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of their kitchen crew. We know that heat illness is a serious hazard and this legislation finally addresses us folks cooking in old buildings with poor ventilation or standing next to a pizza oven or hot grill all day. Phew!

So where did the legislation come from?

Taking a step back we can see that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), part of the U.S. Department of Labor, proposed new rules around indoor workplaces back in 2019, However, more recently it has worked with California to approve the new indoor heat illness prevention standards.  The legislation outlines that restaurants with more than 10 employees must have a clear plan for protecting their workers, including promoting a collaborative approach to looking after employees. 

California’s regulations require employers to take specific actions when indoor temperatures exceed 82°F. These include providing cool drinking water, easy access to cool-down areas, temperature monitoring and written heat illness prevention plans.

The great thing about these regulations is that it’s not just bosses dictating things, it’s a chance for all staff to consider how they can work in a safer environment and for leaders to brainstorm with employees. Another ‘cool’ (get it?) thing about the regulations is that they empower your staff, because it highlights the need for a new designated “heat safety coordinator” to ensure the precautions are taken.

The regulation outlines a number of other measures, including:

• Providing access to “suitably cool” drinking water, at a volume of 1 quart per hour per employee.
• Extending cooldown opportunities at the rate of one 15-minute break for every two hours of excessive heat. 
• Ensuring the break area offers either air conditioning, shade or good air flow, and ideally some form of dehumidification. 
• Establishing a system for employees to monitor one another during times of dangerous heat for signs of ill effects. The setup can either be a mandatory “buddy system,” where workers are paired to keep watch on each other, or via a supervisor or heat safety coordinator. 
• Drafting “acclimatization protocols” for enabling new employees to adjust to high heat. 
• Posting high heat alerts in indoor areas where the ambient temperature regularly soars above 120 degrees. 

In addition, restaurants should follow The Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Plan, or HIIPP, which must also cover what employees should do if a co-worker shows signs of being dangerously affected by the heat. What a breath of fresh air!

The rules, now in place in California, also state that there should be an initial heat index—a measure that takes into account the kitchen’s humidity. It states that temperatures should be monitored and control measures should be implemented if the heat index reaches 87°F.

The state of California is, and always has been, a bit of a trend setter, so we’re expecting to start seeing these regulations being rolled out more widely. Plus it outlines other issues around  – designing commercial kitchens with airflow and heat flow in mind. It’s amazing that California is setting the standards for workplace safety. So next time you’re sweating over a hot stove remember those California chefs – they’re leading the charge for safer kitchen for all of us!

There’s no question that the restaurant industry fuels a huge percentage of the US economy, so it might feel like you know all there is to know about the food service world. But are you and your employees fully clued-up on all the facts? From the complex make-up of a hamburger through to the staggering amount of people that are getting sick from foodborne illness each year, here are some sobering and somewhat surprising facts about the industry which we all know and love.

1. There are around 13 million restaurant staff in the US.
We may think that general employee numbers in the restaurant industry are on the wane. That’s definitely not the case. Despite the pandemic and the troubled economy, recent data shows that there are approximately 13 million restaurant staff in the US alone. 

2. The National Restaurant Association represents more than 380,000 restaurants
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) is the largest and most influential umbrella organization for food and beverage servers in the U.S., founded in 1919 and now representing more than 380,000 restaurants. Are you a member?

3. 48 million people get sick from foodborne illness
Did you know that every year, an estimated 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases? Pretty staggering, especially when, with the right processes and technology it could easily be avoided.

4. Olive Garden is the leading casual dining restaurant in the US
With sales of approximately 4.8 billion dollars in 2021 alone, this Italian chain is the biggest dining chain in the US. This eye-watering sales record is documented in the Statisita report

5. Fast food restaurants are unhealthier than they were 30 years ago.
According to recent research, and despite the growing demand for healthy options, fast-food restaurants are unhealthier than ever. From increases in portion size, through to additional sodium, most fast food restaurants are unhealthier now than they were 30 years ago.

6. Most Americans order their meat well done
Despite chefs favoring meat cooked on the rarer side, most Americans order their meat well done or medium well. In general they rarely order meat rare or medium rare.

7. There are more than 50 new food regulations which impact our industry
From adding sesame to the allergen list, to updates to the Food Safety Modernization Act, more than 50 new food regulations have been enacted or introduced in just the past five years.

8. A huge 10% of the nation’s workforce work in a restaurant
According to the National Restaurant Association 10% of the nation’s workforce is employed in a restaurant. Again, it could seem surprising given how many restaurants have closed during the pandemic, but it gives you a sense of the sheer scale of the industry.

9. A burger can be made from hundreds of different cows.
From minced beef to ground meats, they can be taken from lots of different animals. The meat is all processed together in huge batches, then chopped down to smaller amounts before being packaged.

10. Mother’s Day is the busiest day of the yearWhen it comes to bookings and footfall, Mother’s Day is officially the craziest day of the year for restaurants in the US

Recently a wave of TV shows and films, such as Boiling Point and The Bear have highlighted the hectic and fast-paced environment of working in a commercial kitchen. Stephen Graham’s character in Boiling Point is faced head-on with a health inspection and it couldn’t come at a more unwelcome time, the busiest night of the year. But do health inspections come served with a plate of worries and a side of stress? It definitely doesn’t have to be the case. As long as you know what health inspectors are looking for, stay calm during the visit and run a tight ship, you’ll be fine. And, there are a few technical things that can help ease the stress too. Read on to find out more.

When does a health inspection take place?

A health inspection can happen at any time and without prior notice. Usually health inspections take place around every six months. If a customer has complained that will trigger a health inspection visit.

What are health inspectors looking for?

Ultimately health inspectors for knowledge from your managers and staff. Restaurant owners are required to know all of the local health codes. Management is required to have all up-to-date training on food safety and all restaurant employees must demonstrate knowledge of safe food handling and preparation.

When the inspector arrives they will observe and ask questions to test the staff’s knowledge. They will want to see temperature readings, food safety logs, checklists and understand how the kitchen is managed.

How to make health inspections easy

The first thing to do is ensure your staff are well trained. With the Phenium app you can upload all your Standard Operating Procedures so that everyone in your team has access to them, anytime.

It’s vital that you and your team stay up to date with knowledge, new technologies and anything that can help mitigate risk in the kitchen.

It goes without saying that you need to ensure checklists, cleaning, and temperature reading are up to date and being regularly monitored. Again, Phenium can do this for you. Our smart sensors will read the temperature of your cooling or holding equipment. In fact, we can record up to 1500 temperature checks every day. We can also create automated food safety temperature logs so you don’t need to keep a paper record of every check you make.

Another great idea is to conduct your own health inspections on a regular basis, that way everyone knows what to be aware of when a real visit takes place and how to make them as stress-free as possible.

Case studies: What happens when something goes wrong?

Here at Phenium we are always working to ensure high food safety standards are kept. We know our customers rely on our technology to ace their health inspections.

A source from one of our long-serving customers described an incident where an employee placed warm soup in a fridge during a health inspector’s visit.

‘The soup was too hot, but because all records and temps were recorded, it was clear it was just human error and one mistake, not a wider problem, so no further action was taken from the health inspector,’ he said.

Another customer of ours, who managed operations across multiple locations, heard the health inspector had arrived, so he rushed over to the restaurant.

‘The health inspector had checked all our records and was so satisfied he left before I even arrived,’ he confirmed.

For Christian J Fischer, a well-known chef and industry consultant, cooking is all about ‘creating memories’. From his childhood working in hotels to his career in culinary development, he’s always considered it to be a medium that ‘brings people together’.

Indeed in Christian’s career he has applied this notion of connection and experience to his various culinary ventures. He was one of the first restaurateurs to adopt a salad bar, and whilst it had many business benefits, it was actually born out of necessity. “We simply didn’t have enough staff,’ he explains. His restaurants were busy, full of atmosphere and celebrated for their innovation.

“I’ve always been interested in dining as an experience,’’ he says. His connection to people and encounters is one that has served him well. As a child, he lived alongside his 10 brothers and sisters in his parents’ hotel. He spent his time helping in the family business, meeting people and working within the hotel team. Only during the low season, when he and his family took off to their holiday home on a lake, was he away from the hustle and bustle of hospitality.

Early career path

When Christian left school he enrolled in medical school. However his surgical career was cut short when he blacked out just as he was about to perform his first operation. “I woke up in the locker room, and realized I was about to be kicked out of medical school’, he recalls. “My father suggested I work in the hospitality sector, so I started studying for a masters in hotel and restaurant management.”

Christian was keen to explore the restaurant side of hospitality, from serving and hosting to baking and butchering. He had a strong desire to succeed, wanting to ‘prove’ to his parents that working in a restaurant was as valuable a career as being a hotelier.

“I decided I would open my own restaurant”, he says. “I quickly opened a second, then partnered with a friend and within 6 years, I had opened 6 restaurants in and around Feldbach.”

Feldbach is unique in its location, nestled on the banks of the river Raab with close proximity to the Hungarian and Slovenia border.

It was here, during the 1990s, where he perfected his salad bar format. Fresh vegetables were served alongside a host of delicious meats and fish. He also embraced a no-choice menu. “We never had a menu, we just used to get whatever was fresh from the market and serve that alongside the salad bar. It meant we could keep costs down and crucially, food waste was reduced”

Move to America

In 1991 Christian was approached by Stouffer Hotels, part of the Nestle company. “I sold my salad bar concept and ended up working for them”, he explains. So Christian left Europe and took up his new role in the US. “I worked for 18 years as an advisory chef, specializing in confectionery.”, he recalls. In 1998 Nestle’s R&D department moved to Connecticut, and Christian settled there. However, a few years later the department closed and he moved on to a new role as Chief Culinary Officer at the Compass Group.

The past few years have seen Christian’s ambition grow even further. He left the Compass Group to set up his own consultancy business, guiding new restaurants with online training, books and leadership courses. He part-owns several restaurants in Palm Beach, Florida and even hosts a hugely successful podcast called the Culinary Executive Mastermind.

“One of the things I am most proud of is my work with GPO on reforming campus dining. We look at the food that’s being served at top level universities such as Yale, Havard and Cornell. We look at how we can improve standards and processes.”

Home life

It’s perhaps unsurprising that Christian’s home life is busy too. He and his wife have four children, all of Chinese heritage. “My children have conditions which make them vulnerable and that’s why adopting them has been such an incredible experience”, he beams.

With Christian’s wife working as a psychologist and the children ranging in age from 25 to 10, there’s nothing better than congregating around the kitchen to cook together. “There’s something so special about making Chinese noodles. It connects my children to their heritage”, Christian explains.

Even moving into consultancy can’t stop Christian’s intense love of cooking and handling fresh produce and ingredients. “Food has always been front and center for me”, he explains. At home in Connecticut he and his family own 1.5 acres of land which he uses to keep chickens and grow vegetables.

Christian is also passionate about sustainability. “I’m concerned about logistics. I’d rather have a local orange, that is not organic but sourced from across the street.”

And with his tireless energy, we suspect it is just a matter of time before Christian finds himself innovating when it comes to food supply chains and sustainability. We’ll certainly be watching.