Tag Archives: safety

June is Dairy & Safety Month!

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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Minnesota Safety & Health Conference

This year the Minnesota Safety Council will be hosting their 2021 Safety & Health Conference May 4th & 5th. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided for the event to be held virtually. With being completely online, the safety councils are able to offer more educational sessions and exhibits with safety solutions, as well as new networking opportunities!

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Don’t Be in a Brush Rush…

Ah, the beauty and purity of a new cleaning tool. Freshly removed from any packaging, and unsullied by the elements: nothing but possibility ahead of it. Whether you enjoy opening new tools as much as I apparently do, or you are more in the “pop it open, because there is a ton of stuff to do” camp, there are a few tips that our friends from Remco have provided to get the best out of your new cleaning tool. These simple steps help to ensure safety before the first use.

How to Prepare a New Cleaning Tool for Use
New cleaning tools—especially those sealed in plastic pouches like the ones from Vikan® and Remco—often look like they’re ready for use right out of the bag. It’s easy to assume these tools can start sweeping, mopping, and brushing right away, however, as most in the food industry know, looking clean isn’t the same as actually being clean. Here are a few steps that must be taken to ensure all new tools are ready for use in food production plants:

Remove Any Labels
Vikan® and Remco both apply labels directly to some of their products, as do many other cleaning tool manufacturers and distributors. Ideally, these labels will peel off easily, especially when they’re dry. If there’s a problem removing a label or there’s residual stickiness, simply use a washrag with warm water and soap, or use a sponge soaked in vinegar to remove the label and any adhesive left behind. It’s easier to peel labels when they’re dry, but a little extra effort may be needed for particularly stubborn adhesives. It’s essential to remove the label and adhesive fully, as the sticky residue can be a trap for debris and bacteria.

Clean the Tool
New tools may seem clean, but they’re produced in factory environments that do not have the same rigorous sanitation requirements as food manufacturing facilities. Put new tools through an industrial dishwasher or hand wash them, depending on what the plant’s HACCP plans call for during the tool’s regular usage. Either cleaning option may help remove any remaining label residue, along with preparing the tool for its first use. Don’t make the mistake of assuming a broom or a squeegee that will be used in a low-risk environment is “clean enough” when it comes out of the package. The tool should still be cleaned.

Sanitize for High-Risk Conditions
Decide how clean a tool should be before use, follow HACCP plans for how they’ll be cleaned during their regular usage. If a tool will be used in a high-risk environment, it should be sterilized before its first use, ensuring any microbes that may have contaminated the item before it arrived to you are fully destroyed. If a tool is going to be used in a low or medium-risk facility, simply cleaning and sanitizing the tool should be enough for it to be used safely.

Dry the Tool
No tool is clean without having been dried first. Whether by hanging it or by putting it through an industrial dishwasher’s drying cycle, tools must be dry to be considered clean. This helps prevent mold and other microorganism growth and ensures the tool is ready for use.

Once these steps are complete, the tools are ready for their designed purposes in food processing plants. Remember to maintain tools by keeping them free of debris and cleaning them frequently. Regular maintenance—starting with these first steps—will keep tools hygienic and help them last longer.

Nelson-Jameson carries a wide selection of color-coded products, including the full line of Remco products. Contact us today to learn more about the many ways Nelson-Jameson and our industry partners can help you get the tools you need on your pathway to creating safe, quality food.

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NEW Color-Coded Catalog Available Now!

Springtime brings many new colors, from the flowers popping up in gardens to the spring and summer produce offerings at the grocery store. During this colorful time of year, it might be the perfect opportunity to take a look at color-coding in your facility, whether that means starting a new color-coded program or expanding an existing program.

Nelson-Jameson has expanded our color-coded program once again with the release of our 2021 Color-Coded Catalog. This year’s catalog has grown to 68 pages of products that are designed to help prevent allergen migration and cross-contamination. A complete color-coded program helps to lay the foundation for a solid food safety program, and can help minimize the risk of cross-contamination.

Why choose a color-coded system? A complete color-coded system helps promote organization and efficient workflow. Designating critical control areas and zones helps your sanitation program by ensuring that the tools stay in the areas in which they are meant to be used, doing jobs they are meant to do.

In addition to having the most extensive color-coded program in the industry, we also have the most color options to help meet all your color-coded needs. Our expanded catalog also includes new items like Carlisle Total Color Products, ColorCore Cleaning Tools, Vacuum Accessories, Cutlery, and more.

From the lab to the processing line, Nelson-Jameson has the color-coded products you need to produce safe, quality food. Download or request a copy of our new color-coded catalog today!

 

 

 

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Staying Connected in a Unconnected World

It’s apparent that we can all safely say that social media has taken over the communication world. “More than 80% of the 4.66 billion people on the planet with access to the internet are social network users… and this share is expected to grow” (Jens, 2020, pp.1). How wonderful, yet crazy, is it to be a click of a button and a typed out message away to talking with a friend in Europe? With social media’s ability to stay up to date by the minute, it is the preferred way to communicate for many individuals—especially in the midst of a pandemic. And, not just personally, but professionally as well.

With social media being a time consuming aspect of our daily lives, it can be a valuable tool for both individuals and businesses as well. Social media is a common trend that many businesses, no matter the industry, have adapted to over the last decade or so. For a business this is a way to promote brand image. As a consumer, it’s a way to not only see what your favorite businesses are posting about daily, but also to effectively communicate with them when needed.

At Nelson-Jameson, we think growing our social media platforms is an excellent way to open up more two-way communication with our customers. We encourage our customers to exchange ideas and interact with us on our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Youtube accounts. Our goal is to increase customer engagements through our posts, shares, and likes. As a leader in the food, dairy, and beverage industries, we want to keep you updated with innovative technologies, methods, tips of the trade, and general updates about Nelson-Jameson. Our product managers, technical service representatives, and account managers want to share their wealth of expertise with you, and our social media platforms provide us the ability to do just that.

We hope to interact with you soon on our other social media platforms, and think you will find a variety of valuable information about safety, sanitation, janitorial, material handling, processing and flow, laboratory and QA/QC, and more!

 

Sources:

Jens, B. (2020, October 28). The Future of Social Media. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://marketinginsidergroup.com/social-media/future-social-media/

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