The study analyzed of the human resources administration processes at commercial restaurants, focusing on the provision of safe foods to consumers. Interviews were conducted with 105 restaurant managers at the city of Florianopolis, Brazil. Three types of restaurants were studied; 45.7% were buffets by weight. 39.1% fast-food restaurants and 15.2% churrascarias. A questionnaire was used with close-ended questions to characterize the restaurants and identify the human resources administration processes for hiring, evaluation, training and provision of benefits to employees. It was found that 89.4% of the restaurants adopt criteria for hiring of employees and 81.9% conduct periodic evaluations. Benefits were offered by 85.7% of the restaurants and 74.3% of the establishments provided employee training. The results indicate that human resources management processes at restaurants can contribute to the provision of safe food, although some establishments still need to adopt professional procedures for recruitment, selection, evaluation and training of their employees. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.313667674