Measuring management practices impact on hygiene practices of food handlers: The mediating role of commitment and training perception

The purpose of the study was to assess i) communication, employee involvement, commitment, training perception, and hygiene practices of food handlers working in restaurants in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ii) impact of management practices through communication and employee involvement on food handler commitment and food safety training perception and eventually on hygiene practices. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted via reliable and validated questionnaire to collect data from food handlers (n = 995) working in restaurants (n = 317) in Dubai (UAE). Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, T-test, one-way ANOVA test and structural equation modeling were conducted. The proposed hypotheses were tested through SEM. The results (agree response percentages) depicted that food handlers had a good (>70%) commitment (80.3%), hygiene practices (77.8%), and employee involvement (71.3%), whereas communication (69.8%) and training perception (67.6%) were found to be moderate (<70%). The results also showed that employee communication and involvement positively (P˂0.05) affected employee commitment and food safety training perception. Employee commitment and training perception of food safety positively (P˂0.05) affected the hygiene practices of the food handlers. The relationship between hygiene practices and management practices is mediated partially by food handler commitment and the food safety training perception. The findings of this research could be helpful for food safety practitioners in the private and governmental sectors to concentrate more on human aspects of their work management in order to enhance the food handler attitude.