Grocery Shopping Safety – Tips For Preventing Injury And Illness While Food Shopping
Slipping and falling aren't the only issues you can face while buying food, but they do add to the reports of 25,000 people who slip and fall on a daily basis. Grocery stores sometimes have issues with food safety that can cause customers to become ill. These aren't the only dangers; read on to learn more about what could happen at the grocery store and how to keep safe.
Physical Safety
The only type of physical safety most shoppers think about is how to avoid slipping on spilled pancake syrup in isle 6. And this is a valid issue because slip and fall accidents are the #1 cause of customer and employee injuries in grocery stores. Here are some things you can do to prevent physical injuries while food shopping:
- Always pay attention to your surroundings. Accidents happen when people get distracted.
- Wear rubber-soled shoes. You will greatly reduce your risk of slipping or falling on a slick grocery store floor.
- Don't walk on areas of the floor that look wet. If the super-shiny floor isn't wet, then it is heavily waxed and will be extremely slippery.
- Make sure you always keep a good distance from any Slippery When Wet sign, because in most cases the slippery surface extends out past the width of the sign.
- Never leave your kids in a cart unattended. They can easily tip the cart over or run into another customer.
- Kids should never stand on the front of the cart because it can get off balance and fall over.
- Little kids who sit in the front of the cart must always be buckled in, so they won't fall out.
Food Safety
In many instances, food poisoning occurs because of improper storage practices by the customer or the store. People usually comment about spoiled food on the produce shelves, but they often forget about all the germs swimming on the food from other customers handling items as they decide to buy something or not. There is also a lot of germs floating around on shopping carts, which are touched by hundreds of people a day. Here are a few suggestions for avoiding bringing germs home with you:
- Always pack fruits and vegetables separate from other foods.
- Shop earlier in the day to get the freshest produce.
- Never buy food that is past the expiration date, even if the price is very low.
- Visit the deli department last, so food won't be in the warm air for too long.
- Store your freezer items and deli products next to each other in your shopping cart, and in the grocery bags when you make the trek home to keep everything cold.
- Before you put the food away, wash your hands.
- Wash your re-usable grocery bags after every other shopping trip.
- Spray the inside and outside of your re-usable bags after each use.
Mental Safety
Even the slightest amount of stress or aggravation can cause a person to lose their focus. Here are a few tips to help you remain focused and relaxed while food shopping:
- Leave the kids at home.
- When chaos ensues around you, take out your grocery list and review it to see what you have left to purchase. This will take your mind off the stress around you.
- If someone else's children are bothering you, then go to the opposite side of the store to finish out your shopping going in the opposite direction. This will ensure you won't be going up and down the same isle with these people for the duration of your shopping trip.
- If you find yourself getting stressed out, take deep, slow breaths to calm your nerves.
- Immediately check out and buy what you've picked out and come back to shop on a different part of the day or week when there are less people.
These are just a few tips that will help you stay safe while food shopping. If you do fall down and injure yourself while food shopping, call a local personal injury attorney. He or she will be happy to talk you about your options.
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