Bonduelle Group relies on more than 10,000 frontline food workers to provide 500 varieties of vegetable products at 58 processing plants. Six years ago, the company set an ambitious, industry-leading goal of reducing workplace accidents to zero.  

“We had to be sure all employees--seasonal or permanent and regardless of their position--were following our policies and procedures,” says Jodi Haggith, Bonduelle human resources and training supervisor. “But we had a lot of challenges with creating and delivering consistent messages.”

Bonduelle also wanted to meet the standards of the Global Food Safety Initiative through certification with the British Retail Consortium (BRC). “We were looking to become BRC certified, so we needed to take our food safety program to the next level,” says Haggith.

Engaging and Coaching Employees
To achieve its food and workplace safety goals, Bonduelle engaged Alchemy Systems. Every month, more than 2 million front-line workers at 10,000 locations use Alchemy’s tailored training, coaching and communications programs to reduce workplace injuries, safeguard food and improve operations.

Haggith worked with Alchemy and its group-based training program to develop a new-hire orientation program that incorporates hand-held remote devices for employees to interact with the program. Employees are tested in real-time on their comprehension and are recorded to support BRC audits.   

“By taking our own content along with Alchemy courses, we have created a very strong program,” Haggith says. “Every new hire, especially young people and our seasonal workers are comfortable performing their duties when they reach the floor.”

Bonduelle also implemented Alchemy Coach--a mobile tablet application that enables supervisors to observe and ensure that employees are applying training concepts on the floor. Supervisors can conduct and document safety conditions and provide real-time mentoring and coaching to employees.

Keeping Employees Safe Everyday
With the Alchemy platform, Bonduelle created a new hire orientation program that helps keep employees safer and more productive.  Since implementing Alchemy 6 years ago, the company reduced lost-time incidents to zero and has been able to reduce the number of incidents that require medical aid by 50 percent.  “The program has been an instant success,” Haggith says. “Employees now enjoy the training because it’s visual, interesting, and it’s easy for them to respond.”

BRC Audits Preparation a Breeze
Alchemy’s measurement system has dramatically reduced BRC audit resources. Before Alchemy, Bonduelle used to take 5 days to prepare for an audit. Now it takes less than 20 minutes.  

“When it comes to BRC, as soon as they know we are using Alchemy, our training audit is minimal. Alchemy helped us reach the standards that were required to achieve BRC certification,” Haggith says.