The GPHS podcast

Food Safety Truth: Bacteria Don’t Care About Excuses

Quote: “An inspector might catch you, or they might not. But bacteria don’t care. When PHF/TCS foods are left too long in the danger zone, people get sick - fast.”

Watch now to see how to prevent it and stay compliant. Featuring Thomas Hill and Dumitru Zamfir.

Podcast 2 - Onboard with Public Health - Food Safety, Made Easier: Introducing the Toolbox App That Connects the Dots for Onboard ComplianceRun Time: 11:32

Hosts: Capt. Thomas Hill and Mr. Dumitru Zamfir

Under VSP 2025 Environmental Health Standards, success isn’t just about checklists. It’s about building public health competency understanding…knowing how the parts work together to protect the ship, the passenger-guests, and crew.

At #GPHS, we tell the Why, How, What to shipboard teams to step into this role to lead from where they are, to make compliance visible through action, and to shape behavior that lasts. We’ve previously advanced this as Active Managerial Control believing in your role as #onboard translators of standards into behaviour.

From our experience, compliance lives in the details. Standards Success lives in those who connect them.

#PublicHealthLeadership #EnvironmentalHealth #GPHS #VSP2025

Complete - Podcast Recording on “Risk and Readiness”

Onboard with Public Health—Your trusted source for risk, readiness, and realities at sea. 

Welcome to Onboard with Public Health - Risk, Readiness, and Realities at Sea (Beyond the Checklist!), brought to you by Global Public Health Services (GPHS). You have GPHS Coaches @Thomas Hill and @Dumitru Zamfir here to bring you practical insights that matter for anyone traveling by sea. 

From food and water safety to emerging public health topics, they will help you stay informed, prepared, and connected to cruise line public health. You can download this podcast at https://gphsconsulting.com/news-and-media/podcast or watch and subscribe right here on our YouTube Channel https://youtu.be/aBXW20iWXsk  Want to know what’s coming next? Contact us at [email protected] for an outline of upcoming topics. If this is your first time joining us—welcome!

This is Day 1 of your journey into public health at sea.

Take Control of Food Safety with Capt. Thomas Hill

We continue our exclusive conversation with Capt. Thomas Hill, gaining deeper insights into food safety and how to elevate your program to the next level. Captain Hill explores what it truly takes to maintain the highest standards - from industry best practices to real-world challenges whether at sea or onshore. #foodsafety

#DemonstrationofKnowledge #PerformanceofDuties #Activemanagerialcontrol #Improperfoodholdingtemperatures #Poorpersonalhygiene #Contaminatedequipment #Inadequatecooking #Foodsourcedfromunsafesuppliers #FoodSafetyTraining

Food Safety Without Borders: Where Talent Acquisition Meets Empowered Learning

Did you miss the interview with Thomas? Listen here.

As foodborne illness outbreaks and Norovirus cases rise, food safety is more critical than ever, both on land and at sea. To stay ahead, it’s not just about having the knowledge; it’s about knowing what to do. People who are prepared and empowered, actively manage, monitor, and enforce safety protocols with confidence and care.

Why Knowledge Alone Isn't Enough

When it comes to food safety, knowing what to do is just the beginning. To truly protect your operations, it’s about making sure those best practices are consistently followed. Supervisors may understand the risks, but without the right support and active managerial control, gaps can open up. Regulations like the VSP 2018 Operations Manual and U.S. FDA Food Code 2022 offer clear guidelines, but it’s the day-to-day actions that matter in preventing contamination. Let’s work together to ensure food safety becomes second nature for your team.

Take Control of Food Safety with GPHS

At GPHS, we don’t just teach food safety. We help your team understand the “why” behind every protocol. Our training builds confidence and skills they need to take ownership and be accountable for food safety. Strengthen your public health program and stay ahead of emerging food safety challenges.

Let’s work together to build a culture of excellence in public health – no matter where in the world your journey takes you!

#FoodSafetyTraining #FoodSafetyMatters #ActiveManagerialControl #FoodSafetyFirst #PublicHealthExcellence #GPHS #PreventContamination #FoodSafetyTraining

Welcome to the GPHS podcast Season 2 Episode 6. Today we Ask A Consultant, Thomas Hill, our guest and expert, about what it takes to be a high-performance public health centric team and what are some tips on achieving a positive public health culture. A seasoned specialist in cruise line public health, Thomas touches on characteristics of a high performing team using a holistic approach. Join us as we discuss the power of public health to shape your cruise experience, the value of foundational learning from a public health perspective, and more. Happy listening!

Feather In Your Cap - Public Health issues are like birds.

What can you expect from Episode 5 of the GPHS podcast Season 2: On this episode of the GPHS podcast you’ll get to hear from three of our experts: George Vaughn, Thomas Hill, and Dumitru Zamfir.

The episode explores common public health concerns, preventive measures you can take while onboard, as well as food safety and public health culture, and lastly, building public health habits among crew within the shipboard environment.

Happy Listening!

In Episode 4 of the GPHS podcast Season 2, we explore the early history of the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP), quarantining and infection control, cruise line outbreak response to Norovirus and SARS-CoV-2, training and seminars, the contagion circle and 5 pillars of public health, as well as the moral weight of public health and social media.

Our hosts, Dan Harper and Catherine Hirschenfang, give us a clear understanding of the history of public health in the cruise line industry, how the safety measures and requirements to keep crew members and passengers safe came to be, the importance of training and seminars, as well as social and moral obligations to keep everyone safe when cruising.

Dan and Catherine deliver insight and nuance industry-specific guidance on public health and cruising as the challenges with the pandemic continue to change day-to-day.

Their shared expertise on this important cruise line public health leadership topic will benefit all who have questions on public health and COVID-19 safeguards for safe cruising. Happy listening!

In Episode 3 of the GPHS podcast Season 2, we explore the effects of COVID-19 and the CDC’s Framework for the Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) on cruising and the cruise industry.

Our hosts, George Vaughanand Ben Hirschenfang, give us an understanding of the four phases of the CDC’s Framework; the challenges in implementation now that sailing has restarted; and the impact on operations that come from COVID-19 variants and having vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers onboard. They also share with us the importance of local port agreements required by the CDC and the lessons learned so far for the cruise industry.

George and Ben deliver insight and nuance industry-specific guidance on the CDC’s Framework and the challenges with a virus that continues to change.

Their shared expertise on this important cruise line public health leadership topic will benefit all who have questions on the CDC’s Framework and COVID-19 safeguards for safe cruising. Happy listening!

In Episode 2 of the GPHS podcast Season 2, we'll hear from Gus Skinner  and Jon Schnoor about the complexity of restarting cruise line  operations in a goal-oriented, metrics-driven environment. This episode comes at a very special time when cruise ships restart  sailing to Alaska without stopping in Canada. Making the shift from lockdowns to resumption is fraught with challenges, among them issues of  quarantines and vaccines. When aggregating articles for the  e-newsletter, Leader-SHIP, Gus reminds us that "the one constant is  change". We know this to be true.