Safety is a Hands-On Affair for Bon Appétit at Adobe San Jose
- by Peter Todaro
Bon Appétit at Adobe San Jose team members showcase key safety features in their kitchen
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of Adobe’s San Jose offices, the on-site Bon Appétit team spent a lot more time cooking with loved ones at home instead of around the hustle and bustle of a professional kitchen.
When the account re-opened, the team returned and took their standard virtual safety trainings, helping them to relearn some of the procedures they might have forgotten during their time away. But regional and on-site management wanted to take the team’s reintroduction to safety to the next level. How to make the key concepts of safety part of each team member’s physical memory? After all, safety is about both awareness of one’s environment and deeply ingrained safety habits. Regional Manager of Safety and Recruitment Jennifer Takara partnered with Bon Appétit at Adobe Staffing Manager Diane Ortiz, Assistant General Manager Steven Davis, and Campus Executive Chef Jessica Yarr to create a hands-on, immersive safety event.
The team set up training stations at 11 of the most commonly used pieces of equipment in the kitchen, from the mandolin slicer to the Hobart mixer. A staff member was placed at each station to explain the equipment’s safety features and unique PPE requirements. As the 45 employees who attended the training rotated from station to station, they received personalized tips about how to operate the equipment safely, providing them with a hands-on experience that made the virtual trainings they had already received more tangible. After the training was over, employees gathered in small groups to discuss the training and opportunities to stay safe in other aspects of their work. Learnings were shared and stories swapped about accidents that occurred in the past and how to take steps to prevent them in the future. The Adobe team plans to incorporate these hands-on trainings into 10@10 meetings going forward, helping to bring the team’s safety culture to life every day.