20 Ways You Can Support National Preparedness Month

Safety sign on wet floor - don't slip!

September is National Preparedness Month. Established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and supported by thousands of organizations nation-wide, the campaign for awareness focuses on safety and emergency preparedness. While the effort is geared more toward disaster preparedness, it’s also a great reminder regarding safety in general. That means there’s no better time than now to audit your personal or commercial kitchen, and we here at The Back Burner want to make doing just that as easy as possible.

We’ve compiled a list of articles, excerpts, and instructions regarding identifying trouble areas in the kitchen, keeping and properly caring for food and customers, understanding commercial safety certifications, being restaurant-ready for a natural disaster, and so much more. Click around below, share your safety thoughts in the articles you find interesting, and help Tundra Restaurant Supply support National Preparedness Month this September!

Have a Food Safety Program

A Complete Guide To HACCP Food Safety – You’re one-stop-shop for understanding the seven principles of the HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points). If you’re looking to start or modify your own food safety program this is a great place to begin.

Scrutinize Your Restaurant: Avoiding Health Inspector Issues – A visit from the health inspector has the potential to make or break a restaurant, and getting ahead of the inspector by giving your establishment a constructive scrutinizing is the best way to avoid those health inspector woes.

Color Code Your Food Safety Program – Cross contamination is a quick way to cause an allergic reaction or spoil certain foods, and color coding your food prep station helps keep the kitchen in line.

Making the Grade: Should Restaurants Post Food Safety Info? – Join the conversation surrounding making health inspection grades public. Is it good or bad for business?

Food Safety: Controlling Insects and Pests – Keeping your kitchen and customer’s legs free of insects and pests is a must. Here we take a look at a few ways to keep those crawly critters out of your commercial kitchen.

Restaurant Food Safety Tips: Managing Temperatures – Temperature may be the most important factor affecting your food. Luckily, it’s also the one you have the most control over. Learn a little about proper temperature management by understanding the basics.

Is Your Food Safety Program This Hardcore? It Should Be – Take a quick peek behind the curtain at how some of the big boys manage their food safety. While being a large corporate entity, McDonald’s made news for its food safety by focusing on the little things.

Focus on the Little Things

Food Service Gloves: Pros and Cons – Food service gloves, while often essential, can create a false sense of security. We take a look at some common materials used in your go-to gloves, the pitfalls of putting on a pair, and the pros of keeping your digits clean.

Restaurant Food Safety Tips: Proper Hand Washing – Speaking of keeping your digits clean, taking some time to train employees or remind yourself how to properly wash your hands in the kitchen can help keep contaminants and other undesirables away from a customer’s plate.

How to Calibrate a Thermometer – It was mentioned above that monitoring temperature is extremely important, but it’s impossible to properly monitor temperatures with an incorrectly calibrated thermometer. Learn how you can, and why you should, keep your thermometers calibrated.

Contaminated Ice: Key Tips to Keep Your Customers Safe – Surprisingly, ice is often overlooked when it comes to cleanliness. From machine to glass, the ice your serve can easily become contaminated.

Food Safety Tips: Safe Seafood – Keeping seafood safe means different things to different people. In the kitchen it means avoiding sickness and serving up quality product, and it’s easy if you know how.

Dirty Restaurant Restrooms Say Dirty Kitchens to Many Customers – Another often-overlooked area in the restaurant, the restroom says a lot about your commitment to cleanliness, and customers take notice when yours aren’t up to snuff.

Taste & Food Safety: 2 Reasons to Clean Your Beer Taps – Letting those sud super soakers (our fancy name for beer taps) ferment in their own way by attracting bacteria is terrible.  Learn how to properly clean your taps to preserve taste and customer health.

Restaurant Floor Matting: Safety First, Comfort Second – Floor matting may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you’re thinking restaurant essentials, but dropping a few mat squares in high traffic or heavy standing areas can help in terms of safety and comfort.

Be Prepared

Is Mayhem Knocking at Your Door? – Being restaurant-ready for a natural disaster can mean the difference between a destroyed dream and manageable mayhem. Be prepared for weather disasters by following a few simple steps.

Are You Ready For Flu Season? – Cooler temperatures, clogged noses, and general dreariness caused by the flu are just around the corner. Are you and your restaurant ready to combat the cold?

Why Employee Benefits are a Food Safety Issue – When it comes to cold and colds, employees are bound to succumb to the former and get the latter. Being prepared with proper employee benefits could help both management and employees alleviate the stress caused by coming in sick.

Restaurant Food Safety Tips: Shop for Suppliers – Before food even reaches the kitchen you need to be in control. That means not settling for a supplier or cutting corners and sacrificing quality for price. Know and trust your food suppliers.

Understanding Common Safety Certifications – The equipment in which you cook comes in different shapes, accommodates different sizes, and comes stickered with various certifications. Knowing what those certifications mean, and looking for the right ones when purchasing your equipment, can save you time and trouble.

This compilation article is only scratching the surface. Keeping your establishment, employees, and reputation clean and safe requires full commitment to a food safety program and accompanying practices. That said, September is the perfect time to start. Support National Preparedness Month with Tundra Restaurant Supply!

About Andrew Call

Andrew is an aspiring writer and a former Product Upload Specialist for Tundra Restaurant Supply. He contributes to content marketing, copy writing, and product management all while helping to cultivate a creative culture. When Andrew’s not stuck behind a desk he’s involved in side projects, amasses his movie collection, reflects on writer’s of the past, and works on various publishing efforts whenever possible.

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