What Is a Food Safety Culture Survey?
A food safety culture survey is a structured questionnaire that asks staff at every level how food safety is understood, prioritized and practiced on site. The results measure your culture, show where perceptions differ between teams and help you plan targeted improvements.
Food safety culture is now built into the major schemes. GFSI says that in its 2024 Benchmarking Requirements, "Food safety culture has been more firmly embedded in Food Safety Management Programmes". IFS Food Version 8 clause 1.1.1 requires the corporate policy to include "food safety culture", with objectives that "shall include, at a minimum, communication about food safety policies and responsibilities, training, employee feedback on food safety related issues and performance measurement".
Survey Themes: Leadership, Communication, Training, Reporting
- Leadership: do managers visibly put food safety first?
- Communication: do people know what is expected and why?
- Training: do people feel equipped to do the job safely?
- Reporting: do people feel safe raising concerns?
Sample Questions by Theme
Use a five point scale from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree.
Leadership
- My manager puts food safety before output targets.
- Senior managers talk about food safety regularly.
- I see managers following the same hygiene rules as everyone else.
Communication
- I understand why the food safety rules in my area matter.
- I am told about changes to procedures before they happen.
- Information about food safety is available in a language I understand.
Training
- I received enough training to do my job safely.
- I know what to do if something goes wrong on my line.
- I have the equipment and time I need to follow procedures.
Reporting
- I feel comfortable reporting a food safety concern.
- When I report a problem, something is done about it.
- I would stop the line if I saw a food safety risk.
Add one open question at the end: "What one thing would most improve food safety here?"
How to Run the Survey (Anonymity, Languages, Timing)
- Anonymity: make responses anonymous and say so clearly, or people will tell you what they think you want to hear.
- Languages: translate the survey for every language spoken on site, and offer paper or assisted options where needed.
- Timing: run it across all shifts, avoid peak production and give people time to complete it during working hours.
- Coverage: include every department, agency staff and night shifts, and record role and department so you can compare groups.
Scoring Results and Building an Action Plan
- Average the scores for each question and theme.
- Compare results by department, shift and role, looking for gaps between managers and front line teams.
- Read every open comment.
- Pick two or three priorities, not twenty.
- Agree actions, owners and dates, and share what you heard and what you will do.
- Repeat the survey to measure progress.
Culture shows up in everyday routines, such as how people handle a complaint or complete a pre-operational inspection.
A survey score shows where you are; it does not on its own demonstrate that any standard's requirements are met.