From Individual Research to a National Network
Our work increasingly extends beyond individual research projects to a wider, collective endeavour: the development of a national network grounded in food safety culture research.
By connecting empirical inquiry with organisational practice and shared learning, the Food Safety Culture Lab supports long-term capability building across the food system. This network is evidence-informed, creating a space where research insights are translated, tested, and refined through engagement with real-world contexts.
Through this approach, the Lab contributes to the growth of food safety culture as a sustained, collaborative, and system-level practice across Aotearoa New Zealand.
The Food Safety Culture Lab approaches food safety culture as a social, organisational, and ethical phenomenon.
We investigate how food safety is produced, maintained, and challenged through everyday practices—where formal systems meet human judgement, pressure, and care. Our research combines methodological rigour with respect for lived experience, generating evidence that informs practice while remaining attentive to context, complexity, and consequence.
In doing so, we seek to strengthen food safety culture as a collective responsibility—one that is learned, enacted, and sustained through people, relationships, and shared meaning.
Mission, Vision & Values
Mission
To generate the empirical evidence needed to transform food safety from a compliance tick-box into a lived culture. We investigate the human dimensions of safety, decoding how leadership, communication, and behaviour intersect, and translate this rigorous research into practical strategies that protect public health.
Vision
An Aotearoa New Zealand food system where safety practices are driven by insight and deeply lived. We envision a future where food safety culture is measured, understood, and mastered creating workplaces where decisions are based on evidence, learning is continuous, and responsibility is held in common.
Values
1. Evidence with Empathy (Our Core POD)
We believe true understanding requires both head and heart. Our work is grounded in scientific rigour yet carried out with humanity. We use robust methodologies to capture the "real" picture of safety culture, ensuring our data honours the people behind the process.
2. Inquiry over Assumption
We do not guess; we investigate. We embrace curiosity and critical thinking, challenging industry status quos with hard data. We view errors not as failures, but as data points for improvement, cultivating environments where learning replaces blame.
3. Impact-Driven Research
Research must serve the real world. We value translating complex academic concepts into meaningful, everyday action. We bridge the gap between the university and the factory floor, ensuring our findings empower individuals to act with clarity.
4. Integrity in Analysis & Action
True safety, and true research depends on what happens when no one is watching. We value honesty in our data and transparency in our reporting, committed to revealing the reality of industry culture even when it is difficult.
5. Collective Responsibility
Food safety culture is a system, not a silo. We value interdisciplinary collaboration, recognising that solving complex behavioural problems requires diverse voices, from food scientists to psychologists to frontline workers.
6. Care as Practice
We believe safety begins with care. This care extends to our research participants, our students, and the consumers we aim to protect. We treat the subject of safety culture with the respect it demands as a critical guardian of public health.