Could phone Apps Improve Sanitation and Hygiene?  Nye Hardy thinks they could.

As a food safety director at a major produce company, Nye Hardy ran into the same problem that everyone in food safety compliance must deal with: people are terrible at keeping records and even worse at filing them.  It began quickly obvious that if people are intimidated, confused, or frustrated by a process, they will do it very poorly – or not at all.  

It’s a problem because excellent record keeping is needed so a company can ensure and emphasize that sanitation and hygiene procedures are being followed.  Record-keeping is also required by the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011.  It is also record-keeping that can provide protection to companies in the event of law suits or recalls.  

So, when she went into private food safety consulting, she wondered “Could I build an app that makes sanitation and hygiene reporting and filing easier?”  She thinks she has done just that.  Her first is a “Restroom Cleaning Report” App.  The app lets workers download the app to their phone to make reports using simple icons, which auto-emails to their manager.  The emails are titled so they are easy to search and will flag managers about emergency situations.  The emails can then be dragged and dropped into a file or archived.

“Non-English and poor-English speakers can use it.  I also like it because it’s stand-alone and very inexpensive – less than $5 an app. It takes a lot of time and money to run a huge database to hold records, and this app is just a much easier way to do things in my mind,” Hardy says.  “I started with a Restroom Cleaning Report because – well, you know – everyone has a restroom.  I built exactly what I wanted, and what everyone has always asked me for.”

By selling apps at half price, Hardy is raising funds to build the “Restroom Cleaning Report” App on www.kickstarter.com, which will conclude on February 21.  If funding is successful, Synapse, an international company that specializes in apps, websites, and databases, has been contracted to build the App by May 2016.  

For more information, you can visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2060961900/restroom-cleaning-report-app, or contact Nye Hardy directly at nyehardy@gmail.com.