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  • May 16, 2019
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review (website)

To Improve Food Inspections, Change the Way They're Scheduled

By: Maria Ibanez and Michael W. Toffel
  • Format:Electronic
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Abstract

Health inspections are an important tool to increase food safety, but there are still 48 million cases of food-borne illnesses and 128,000 hospitalizations every year in the United States. Our research finds that inspectors reported fewer health code violations as they conducted subsequent inspections throughout the day, and even fewer violations at inspections that risked prolonging their work day. Also, inspectors reported more code violations when the previous establishment the inspector visited had many violations. Based on these patterns, we propose scheduling adjustments that would increase inspectors’ scrutiny and significantly reduce food-borne illnesses and hospitalizations.

Keywords

Inspection; Scheduling; Food; Safety; Health; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Performance Improvement

Citation

Ibanez, Maria, and Michael W. Toffel. "To Improve Food Inspections, Change the Way They're Scheduled." Harvard Business Review (website) (May 16, 2019).
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About The Author

Michael W. Toffel

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • Do Management System Standards Indicate Superior Performance? Evidence from the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Standard By: Kala Viswanathan, Matthew S. Johnson and Michael W. Toffel
  • Intenseye: Powering Workplace Health and Safety with AI By: Michael W. Toffel and Youssef Abdel Aal
  • Intenseye: Powering Workplace Health and Safety with AI – PowerPoint Supplement By: Michael W. Toffel and Youssef Abdel Aal
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