Colorado State University Extension
SafeFood Rapid Response Network
SAFEFOOD NEWS - Fall 1999 - Vol 4 / No. 1
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The Effectiveness of a Videotape as a Food Safety
Training Tool for Food Service Workers
In 1995, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) established a task force to develop a videotape to convey basic food safety messages to commercial food establishments in Colorado. The task force proposed that a short, basic, consistent message could be delivered utilizing a videotape offered free of charge to food establishments in Colorado, with instructions to show the tape to foodhandlers 2 or 3 times each year, and to every new employee. It was felt this approach could be useful in getting a food safety message to employees, with minimal effort on the part of managers.
Funds to develop the tape were provided by Colorado State University Extension, as part of the Food Safety and Quality National Initiative. Additional funds for duplicating tapes were provided by CDPHE-Epidemiology Division, the Colorado Restaurant Association, and the Colorado Environmental Health Association.
The videotape "Preventing Foodborne Illness" is 10 minutes long, with narration in both English and Spanish. The tape covers the basic food safety messages of proper food handling, and specifically emphasizes issues of time and temperature, importance of good handwashing, cross contamination, and ill foodhandlers. The videotape is available free to food service establishments, and it is gradually being distributed by Environmental Health Specialists during their routine inspections.
The task force evaluated the effectiveness of the videotape as a training tool with a sample of restaurants and their employees in the Denver-Metro area. The evaluation involved assessing 240 participants from 36 restaurants for change in knowledge based on a pre-test, post-test format. Foodhandling practices and improvements in practices were also assessed amongst 28 restaurants. Baseline health department inspection scores were compared to scores received on follow-up inspections, which usually occurred 3 to 6 months after the restaurant employees had viewed the videotape.
Results from the evaluation suggested that the food service workers' safe food handling knowledge increased significantly, average pre-test score of 44.7% compared to the average post-test score of 73.2%. The evaluation also suggested that inspection scores improved after watching the videotape, average baseline score of 74.1% compared to the average follow-up score of 81.9%.
This project suggests that videotapes can play a role in effectively training food service workers. In light of the labor shortage many Colorado counties are experiencing and the rapid turnover of food service workers, videotapes may be a very beneficial training tool, especially when resources are tight among commercial food establishments.
"Preventing Foodborne Illness" was recently updated to incorporate the new Colorado Retail Food Establishment's Rules and Regulations (specifically the temperature changes) that went into effect January 1999. The videotape is available from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment and is free of charge to commercial establishments and to food safety trainers who educate food service workers. Please call the Consumer Protection Division at (303) 692-3620 for additional information or to request a copy. CSU Extension has a limited number of copies for distribution to agents who work with food service workers; please call Melissa Bardsley at (970) 491-7334 to request a copy.
Source: Evaluation of Videotape "Preventing Foodborne Illness" as a training tool for Food Service Workers, Pam Shillam, MSPH and Bruce McCollister, M.D., March 12, 1999 and verbal communication with Pam Shillam, MSPH, with the Epidemiology Division of the Colorado Dept. of Public Health & Environment.
Updated Monday, August 29, 2011
