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Sanitation and Safety: Part 9

© Andrew A. Orr

Strains and back injuries Quantity food preparation can require a lot of lifting and carrying of heavy things. Ways of lifting and carrying minimize the chance of strained muscles and back injuries.

The secret is to use your leg and stomach muscles instead of your back muscles. Keep your back rounded, so that your vertebrae do not pinch the cushioning disks between them or the nerves that run through them. Such injuries can be serious and do permanent damage. You can also strain muscles if you do not lift correctly.

To avoid carrying heavy things long distances, use a dolly or a cart, or ask someone to help you.

Falls

Falls are among the most common of kitchen accidents. They often happen because workers are unaware of the hazards. Most falls come from spills of food or grease. The simplest precaution is to wipe up a spill as soon as it happens, and wipe it up clean. Another precaution is to watch your step in any working area, since workers are not always aware of spills they have created. A fall can be compounded if the person falling is carrying some hot; then burns can be added to injuries.

You can see that cleanliness is as important to safety as it is to sanitation. If you keep your work area clean and use your tools and equipment properly, you can cook in safety and confidence. But be wary of overconfidence. If you begin to get the feeling that you'll get hurt and you start to relax your caution that's just when it will happen to you! Work seriously and professionally. Clowning and fooling around are invitations to accident.

SUMMING UP

The practice of sanitation is just as important to the food-service operation as the production of quality food. The hazards of food-borne disease are everywhere all the time.

The major enemy is the ever-present bacteria. Some types of bacteria produce toxins in food, notably staph, which is common, and botulinus, which is rare but deadly. Others attack the body directly. Of these, salmonella is common, and C. perfringens is noteworthy for surviving cooking.

Bacteria can multiply with unbelievable speed. We can never get rid of them entirely, but we can keep their numbers at safe levels in several ways. We can keep them from entering the kitchen along with people, foods, and pests. We can prevent their spread from one food to another by sanitary work habits, proper storage, and constant cleaning of tools, work surfaces, and hands. We can stop them from multiplying by keeping foods out of danger zone temperatures of 40-140°F (4-60°C). We can kill them by cooking foods and sanitizing equipment touched by foods. We must think clean, work clean, and clean; we must make sanitation a habit.