Monthly Archives: June 2021

June is Dairy & Safety Month!

Posted by Marketing Dept.  –  Education, Events, Food Safety, General
June 29, 2021

June is an important time of year here at Nelson-Jameson, not only is it June Dairy month, but it is also recognized as National Safety month! We find these two topics to be important in the success of our business—being a single source food, dairy, and beverage processing plant supplier. Some questions you may be pondering are, “How did these two topics become nationally recognized and what makes them so important?” and “How do they relate to Nelson-Jameson?” Here is an overview of the correlation:

Dairy Month:

June Dairy Month started out as National Milk Month in 1937 as a way to promote drinking milk, and was a way to distribute extra milk during the warm summer months. According to American Dairymen®, “This month was initially created to stabilize the dairy demand when production was at a surplus, but has now developed into an annual tradition that celebrates the contributions the dairy industry has made to the world” (June is National Dairy Month, pp. 1).

Nelson-Jameson has been an active participant in local activities throughout the Marshfield area to represent the supporting role we play in the dairy industry. The two main activities we volunteered for were the Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce Dairyfest Drive-Thru Breakfast and the Marshfield Dairyfest Reverse Parade. Both activities involved volunteering directly with the community and expressing thanks to all individuals who make the dairy industry as successful as it is today.

In 1947 when Nelson-Jameson was founded, the main goal was to serve as a comprehensive resource for dairy plants. Once the founders realized their original Illinois location wasn’t ideal, it was decided to move the business to Marshfield, Wisconsin—the heart of dairy production. With roughly 7,000 dairy farms actively running throughout Wisconsin, Marshfield is a great centralized location.

Safety Month:

June Safety Month was founded by the National Safety Council (NSC) in 1996 where the goal was to increase awareness of the leading safety and health risks, and ultimately decrease the number of unintentional injuries and deaths in the United States. According to the NSC, the United States is seeing the highest number of workplace deaths since 2007. With 5,333 fatal workplace injuries in 2019, this observance is more important than ever (June is National Safety Month).

With a different topic covered each week, here is a recap of what topics were covered for this year’s National Safety Month.

Week 1 – Prevent Incidents Before They Start: Identifying risks and taking proactive safety measures to reduce hazard exposure on important topics from ergonomics to chemical management is crucial to creating a safe workplace.

Week 2 – Address Ongoing COVID-19 Safety Concerns: As the pandemic continues, employers play an important role in expanding operations and returning remote workers to physical workspaces, building trust around vaccines, supporting mental health and so much more.

Week 3 – It’s Vital to Feel Safe on the Job: Being able to be one’s self at work without fear of retaliation is necessary for an inclusive safety culture. Leading organizations focus not only on physical safety, but psychological safety as well.

Week 4 – Advance Your Safety Journey: Safety is all about continuous improvement. Whether organizationally or individually, NSC can help provide guidance for your path forward.

At Nelson-Jameson, we keep safety in the forefront of our minds everyday not only in the office, but in our distribution centers as well. Aside from Nelson-Jameson employees practicing safety in their everyday work environment, we also offer a large selection of products to help you keep your employees safe as well. From head and face protection, to protective clothing and footwear, to safety equipment and supplies, we offer products to not only protect your employees from injury, but also food products from possible contamination. Click here to download our Safety & PPE catalog, or request a printed copy of this catalog today!

Nelson-Jameson is proud to recognize both National Dairy and Safety Month. We recognize these months by showing appreciation to the important players in the dairy industry, and offering products and services to help keep your employees safe, and practicing workplace safety.

Sources:

Twin Rivers Media. (2015, April 22). June is National Dairy Month. American Dairymen®. https://www.americandairymen.com/articles/june-national-dairy-month.

VelocityEHS. (n.d.). June is National Safety Month. National Safety Council. https://www.nsc.org/work-safety/get-involved/national-safety-month.

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Soaking Up Food Safety

Posted by Mathew J. Bartkowiak, Ph.D.  –  Education, Food Safety, General, Laboratory & QA/QC
June 7, 2021

An essential part of any robust environmental sampling program is ensuring concise, representative samples. Without ensuring the quality of a sample, one can certainly not ensure the quality of a sampling program, or the quality of one’s product.

One of the most popular methods of surface sampling used by our customers in the food industry are sponge samplers for larger areas (swabs being used most often for smaller and harder-to-reach areas). Often composed of cellulose or polyurethane, sponge samplers are everyday essentials for our food industry customers, that help proactively mitigate against environmental contamination concerns. Though a common, daily practice in a food processing facility, it is useful to occasionally revisit sampling techniques to ensure the best representative samples are being taken by employees.

So, if you haven’t revisited your sampling best practices lately, here is what the CDC recommends for proper sampling with a cellulose sponge. Though, specifically cited in a piece regarding Bacillus anthracis, the following is a great model to consult with for sampling methodology, overall.

Cellulose Sponge Sampling Procedure:

  1. Wearing a clean pair of gloves over existing gloves, place the disposable template over the area to be sampled and secure it. If a template cannot be used, measure the sampling area with a disposable ruler, and delineate the area to be sampled with masking tape. The surface area sampled should be less than or equal to 100 in2
    (645 cm2).
  2.  Remove the sterile sponge from its package. Grasp the sponge near the top of the     handle. Do not handle below the thumb stop.
  3.  If the sterile sponge is not pre-moistened, moisten the sponge by pouring the 10 mL container of neutralizing buffer solution over the dry sponge.
  4. Wipe the surface to be sampled using the moistened sterile sponge by laying the widest part of the sponge on the surface, leaving the leading edge slightly lifted. Apply gentle but firm pressure and use an overlapping ‘S’ pattern to cover the entire with horizontal strokes.
  5. Turn the sponge over and wipe the same area using vertical ‘S’ strokes.
  6. Use the edges of the sponge (narrow sides) to wipe the same area using diagonal ‘S’ strokes.
  7. Use the tip of the sponge to wipe the perimeter of the sampling area.
  8. Place the head of the sponge directly into a sterile specimen container. Break off the head of the sponge by bending the handle. The end of the sponge handle, touched by the collector, should not touch the inside of the specimen container. Securely seal and label the container (e.g., unique sample identifier, sample location, initials of collector, and date and time sample was collected).
  9. Place the sample container in a re-sealable 1-quart plastic bag. Securely seal and label the bag (e.g., sample location, data and time sample was collected, and name of individual collecting the sample). Specimen containers and re-sealable bags may be pre-labeled to assist with sampling efficiency.
  10. Dispose of the template, if used.
  11. Remove outer gloves and discard. Clean gloves should be worn for each new sample.

Nelson-Jameson offers a wide variety of environmental sampling supplies to help you keep your program in top order. You can check out our Environmental Testing Solutions webpage here. We also have a new collection of scrub samplers from 3M™ to peruse here, that feature a metal detectable stick and a 96 hour hold time. For more information on environmental sampling, contact one of our product specialists today!

Sources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012, January 30). CDC – Surface sampling procedures for Bacillus anthracis spores from smooth, non-porous surfaces – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/emres/surface-sampling-bacillus-anthracis.html#.

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