Linking food safety training with whistle-blowing: The mediation roles of job satisfaction and self-efficacy

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a validated food safety whistle-blowing scale and examine how training influences food handlers’ whistle-blowing, the mediating roles of job satisfaction and food safety self-efficacy and the moderating roles of organization type and gender.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 734 food handlers from the food service industry and 306 food handlers from the food processing industry were recruited. A two-step psychometric process was conducted to validate the scale, and a moderated mediation model was used to examine the mechanisms through which food safety training influences whistle-blowing.

Findings

The results showed that job satisfaction and self-efficacy fully mediated the relationship between training and whistle-blowing. Organization type moderated the first step of the two indirect paths and gender moderated the second step, thereby supporting the mediated-moderated model.

Practical implications

The results indicate the influence of food safety training programs on whistle-blowing behaviors and suggest other methods of enhancing employee whistle-blowing through human resource management.

Originality/value

A validated scale is lacking to measure whistle-blowing in the food safety context, and little research has examined the influence of human resource practices on whistle-blowing. This study provides meaningful insights for researchers by developing and validating food safety the whistle-blowing scale, connecting training with whistle-blowing, and provides useful information for practitioners by offering the methods of enhancing whistleblowing in both the food processing and food service industry.

Citation

Yu, H., A. Sirsat, S. and Neal, J.A. (2019), "Linking food safety training with whistle-blowing: The mediation roles of job satisfaction and self-efficacy", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 141-160. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2017-0689