Byerley says that within a week her friend set up the interview with the company’s vice president of human resources, met with her on a Thursday morning, received the offer Thursday night, and was asked to start the new job on Monday. “I went from ambulance and emergency care to health and safety in the space of three days.”
From this point on, Byerley’s career would be filled with food safety issues while also addressing occupational health and safety challenges. He joined the Compass Group in the late 90s and that’s when food became his main focus. “A lot of my background in health and safety allowed me to use it to help start food safety at Compass Group,” says Byerley, who would eventually be part of the team that created the American food security program.
Now retired, Byerley works part-time as a consultant and says many health and safety leaders often overlook the risks posed by food in the workplace. He points to knives as a common hazard, saying they “need to be properly cleaned to keep them safe and uncontaminated, but you have to do it safely, don’t throw them down the sink with soap. and then reach for them and cut yourself.
There’s also that sandwich that’s been sitting in the office fridge for too long, but somehow doesn’t end up in the trash and gets eaten by that guy who eats everything (every office has that guy) who Byerley says it’s a problem “. because now they lack work because they are sick”.
The intersection between food and occupational health and safety cannot be more pronounced than in the restaurant industry. Byerley says a duty always includes two sides of the same coin, which is unloading the trucks.