Pre Rinsing Dishes Research Paper

• Soaking and pre-rinsing dishes and pots

The subject is cleaning and sanitizing. Cleaning is the process of removing food and other types of soil from a surface (what you can see). Sanitizing is the process of reducing the number of microorganisms on a clean surface to safe levels (removing microorganisms you cannot see). Both can be done with heat or chemicals.
Before loading dishes into dishwashing machines and washing pots, items should be soaked and pre-rinsed to remove as much food as possible.

Risk factors

forceful exertion and awkward bending at the waist when lifting items from soak sinks

awkward postures when pre-rinsing

Controls

Soaking

Use false bottoms in deep sinks to reduce awkward bending at the waist.

Do

Pre-rinsing

Lower rinse nozzles to waist level to reduce your reach and use a power grip rather than a pinch grip.

When rinsing dishes, spray directly in front of your body to prevent awkward shoulder postures.

• Storing dishes and pots

Non-fatal occupational illnesses and injuries for food service workers increased 4 percent in 2010, according to the latest data available from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Injuries that restaurant kitchen workers suffer include sprains, strains, lacerations and burns. Slips, trips, falling, lifting or repetitive tasks are the most common actions leading to the injuries.
Once dishes have been cleaned, workers remove them from dish racks and move them to the appropriate areas. This task may vary in different kitchens depending on the size and number of items that need to be washed for each meal. The more dishes and pots are organized, the less workers need to handle them to complete this task and the less fatalities to encounter.

Risk factors

repetitive, awkward reaching

forceful lifting of full dish racks

Controls

Keep dishes between knee and shoulder

All employees should be outfitted with back support belts. Employees must be trained to lift heavy items properly and ask for help when they need it. They should be taught to pull the load as close as possible to them before lifting. Also they should be instructed to keep their head up, back straight and lift the load with their leg muscles.
When putting items down, persons should use their leg muscles as they squat and not their backs. Make dollies or hand trucks available for transporting heavy items.
Avoid storing items below knee height or above shoulder height to decrease awkward postures. Use spring-loaded dish dispensers to keep dishes at a constant height for stacking and later use.

Use carts

Use carts to transport clean dishes to storage areas rather than carrying full dish racks. This significantly reduces the amount of force required to transport dishes.

Follow safe lifting guidelines

Never lift more than one dish rack at a time.

Use good body mechanics when transporting dish racks or pots manually

Grip racks at the midpoint rather than the front edge to reduce stress on wrist joints.

• Storing food and dishes

Workers store food and dishes on shelves in dry storage and cold storage areas.

Risk factors

awkward back postures to reach lower