Purpose: Using a food safety climate survey instrument, this research sought to determine differences in food safety climate (worker attitude regarding food safety) between a municipal beef slaughter plant and a private beef slaughter plant in Mexico. Additionally, researchers sought to determine in which constructs any identified differences occurred.
Methods: The data for this study was collected at two beef processing plants in Mexico. One plant was municipally owned and managed by the city government, while the other was a privately owned and operated plant. A 39-question survey instrument was administered to the employees at each plant, regarding their perceptions of food safety climate within their slaughter plant. Instrumentation was provided in Spanish and in necessary situations, the instrument was read to the participant and responses were recorded by the researcher.
Results: An ANOVA was conducted to measure the results of the climate survey between the municipal and private plant, determining significant differences in several construct areas. The private plant scores were significantly higher (more positive in relation to food safety) in areas including Food Safety Training, F (2, 203) = 9.12, P = .01; Management Commitment, F (2, 121) = 22.02, P - > .01; and Worker Behavior, F (2, 127) = 19.27, P= > .01) indicating a more willing environment to effect changes in behavior
Significance: Food safety climate within an organization is a key factor in explaining worker behavior related to producing a safe product. Municipal plants in Mexico work within a model that fails to promote a healthy climate and, in turn, could have negative impacts on the effectiveness of training conducted for the employees. Understanding this climatic variance is an essential first step at developing training that will have the desired effects. Developing a targeted training plan with the organizational climate in mind is pertinent to providing a safe food product.