Food Service Associate

• Prepares food as needed and assists the Chef and/or Cooks in food preparation, following daily preparation instructions.  

• Assists in serving evening meals. 

• Assists the Chef and/or Cooks in cleaning and sanitizing of food preparation area, equipment, utensils and tools. 

• Performs scullery work including transferring tray carts from daycares to the dish room; assisting with dishwashing, storing clean dishes, and cleaning the dish machine and the scullery.  

• Leaves the scullery pre-set for the next morning. 

MARGINAL FUNCTIONS: 

• Assists the Chef and/or Cooks in pushing food carts, racks and dollies.  

• Participates in House of Mercy’s Performance Quality Improvement Process. 

• Attends meetings and training sessions as required. 

MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED: 

• Ability to read, write, comprehend, and speak English, required. 

• High school diploma or equivalent, preferred.  

• Any combination of education and experience that would demonstrate the capability to perform the duties of the position. 

• Proof of completion of Mandatory Reporter abuse training specific to population served within thirty (30) days of employment.   

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY REQUIREMENTS: (Constant = 67%-100% of workday, Frequent = 34%-66% of workday, Occasional = 33% or less of workday). 

CONSTANT: 

Talking:  Expressing ideas by means of the spoken word to convey instructions to other workers either in person or by phone. 

Hearing:  Perceive detailed information through oral communication with other workers either in person, by phone, or responding to the in-house paging system. 

Walking:  Moving about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for short distances. 

Standing:  Particularly for sustained periods of time. 

FREQUENT: 

Pushing:  Using upper extremities to press against food carts, racks and bins with steady force in order to thrust forward, downward or outward. 

Pulling:  Using upper extremities to exert force in order to draw, drag, haul or tug objects in a sustained motion such as carts, racks and dish bins. 

Grasping:  Applying pressure to scoops, spoons, dishes with fingers and palms to move object from position to position. 

Stooping:  Bending body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist. 

Lifting:  To move trays and pans of food from ovens and steamers; cases of food and pans of foods at counter-top heights and to floor level of food carts. 

Reaching:  Extending hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction. 

Repetitive motions: Substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands and/or fingers to move food objects, dishes, utensils to procedural positions. 

Fingering:  Pinching or fingering (primarily with fingers rather than with whole hand or arm). 

PHYSICAL DEMAND REQUIREMENTS: 

• Medium Work: Exerting up to 50 pounds maximum force infrequently and/or up to 25 pounds to lift frequently and/or up to 10 pounds of force to move objects about and requiring prolonged periods of standing/walking.   

VISUAL ACUITY REQUIREMENTS:     

• Normal visual acuity is required. Must be able to read a menu, production guide, recipes, labels, calculate recipes/amounts of food. Must be able to select proper measuring tools for portion control.  Must be able to utilize broiler, convection ovens, slow cook oven, steamers, steam kettles, fryers, mixers, slicers, knives, can openers, and dishwasher.  

INTELLECTUAL/EMOTIONAL REQUIREMENTS: 

• Aligns behavior with the needs, priorities, and goals of House of Mercy. Interacts on a daily basis with internal and external clients and customers, performing duties with a customer service excellence approach.  

• Sensitivity to the service population’s cultural and socioeconomic characteristics is mandatory. 

Ability to verbally communicate effectively.  

• Adaptability to performing repetitive work or to performing continuously the same work, according to set procedures sequence or pace. 

• Adaptability to performing under stress when confronted with emergency, critical or unusual situations in which working speed and sustained attention are important aspects of the job. 

• Adaptability to influencing people in their opinions, attitudes or judgments about ideas or things. 

• Adaptability to performing a variety of duties, often changing from one task to another of a different nature without loss of efficiency or composure. 

• Adaptability to dealing with people beyond giving and receiving instructions. 

• Adaptability to making generalizations, evaluations or decision based on sensory or judgmental criteria. 

• Ability to maintain both a high standard of courtesy and cooperation in dealing with co-workers, patients, and visitors and satisfactory job performance despite the stress of a hospital work environment. 

TOOLS/EQUIPMENT: 

• Work utilizes broiler, convection ovens, slow cook oven, steamers, steam kettles, fryers, mixers, slicers, knives, can openers. 

WORKING CONDITIONS: 

• The worker is subject to noise.  There is sufficient noise at times to cause the worker to raise voice in order to be heard above the ambient noise level. 

• The worker is subject to food spills and wet spots on floor surfaces. 

• The worker is subject to inside environmental conditions; protection from weather conditions but not necessarily from temperature changes. 

• The worker is subject to cleaning products such as vinegar, detergent, bleach and household cleaners. 

• The worker is subject to steam from steamers, high heat surfaces on cooking equipment and hot cooking oil. 

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS: 

The worker is led daily by the Chef and reports directly to the Operations Data Manager.