Labor time spent in foodservice activities in one hospital: a 12-year profile

Labor minutes per meal equivalent and percentage of time spent in direct work, indirect work, delay time, and total time were determined in an annual study of foodservice workers in a community hospital. Twelve activity sampling studies (from 1973 through 1984) were conducted for 7 days (Monday through Sunday), usually during the second week of February. The conventional foodservice, with the cook/hot-hold method of food production and service, averaged about 10 minutes for direct work, 1 minute for indirect work, 2 minutes for delay time, and 13 total labor minutes per meal equivalent for the 12 years. The data were similar to those of the study in the 1960s, of conventional hospital foodservices, with high productivity, which averaged about 11 minutes for direct work, 1 minute for indirect work, 2 minutes for delay time, and 14 total labor minutes per meal equivalent. Data averaged from the 1973 through 1984 studies compared with the data from the 1960s study showed that transportation, cleaning, and service required the most labor time (total of 58% in this study and total of 62% in the 1960s study). Methods reported in this article may be applied in other foodservices to identify labor time spent in work and delay activities to establish productivity guidelines for a foodservice department.