This thesis explores how food-safety compliance in hospitality kitchens can shift from a top-down requirement into a shared cultural practice. Conducted with RAI Amsterdam’s Basement Chefs, the study investigated why checks were valued but often undocumented. Immersion in daily practice revealed opportunities to enhance compliance by better fitting routines to the pace of service, distributing ownership more evenly across staff, and embedding digital tools within the natural flow of work.
To leverage these opportunities, the research proposes BaseCode: a system of tools including strategic roadmap, dashboard, staff profile cards, and the CODE framework (Cue, Own, Delegate, Empower). Together, these interventions reframe compliance from an individual responsbility into a collective identity anchored in pride and professionalism. The contribution lies in showing how problem reframing combined with behavioural design can build cultural infrastructure, turning compliance into a sustainable, team-owned practice with relevance for hospitality and other high-pressure industries.