Stop dying Start breathing

Life’s vibrant hues are way too beautiful and precious to be distorted by the smoke of cigarettes.

Plain packaging is an important demand reduction measure that reduces the attractiveness of tobacco products, restricts use of tobacco packaging as a form of tobacco advertising and promotion, limits misleading packaging and labelling, and increases the effectiveness of health warnings.

Protect yourself from computer/laptop radiation exposure

In this modern world almost everyone uses a computer or a laptop.

We are all vulnerable to the Electromagnetic Frequency (EMF) that emits from the computer/laptops. These radiations are very harmful for our health.  Therefore it has become a necessity to know more about these radiations.

These electromagnetic waves are known as electromagnetic radiations which radiates from the electrically charges particles. It shows that EMF strength decreases with distance.

Here are a few tips to lower or eliminate the radiation completely while using your computer/laptop

1)      Use your laptop on a desk or other surface away from body and use a laptop radiation shield to protect you.

2)      Use your desktop a little away to reduce the radiation exposure.

3)      Take regular breaks as the radiation causes dryness and irritation to the eyes.

4)      Foods which has high Vitamin C & A should be consumed more as these foods creates its own natural Electro Magnetic Frequency protection

5)      Add a radiation filter cover to your laptop/computer monitor to reduce the radiation exposure.

Employee Grievance Policy

It is the usual scenario to have disagreements and conflicts between staff and management in any organization.

An effective employee grievance policy helps the employees to voice out their concerns and the management can address the issue before it becomes a distraction at workplace. Resolving the grievance helps the employee to work in harmony and also it encourages to have a better work culture at work place.

Follow these simple steps to create an effective employee grievance policy:

1. Identify the key points of contact

Identify the points of contact who are authorized to address the grievances.

Once it is identified, all the employees should know the points of contact and how to approach them with the grievance.

2. Create a procedure to file a grievance

A procedure should be followed to file a grievance and the steps taken if it is not resolved at level 1 until the grievance is resolved.

All the grievances should be documented and should be readily available to the management if the issue is not resolved in the first instance.

3. handling the grievance

Whenever a grievance is filed, it has to be documented and investigated, regardless of the seriousness of the issue. The person who filed the grievance should be kept abreast with the information of the status so that they would know that their grievance is handled and not ignored.

4. Document the grievance policy

The grievance policy is very important and should be added to the company policies and procedures. It would be a guideline to follow when the employees want to raise a grievance.

5. Open-door environment

This grievance policy would be effective if the employees feel comfortable in reporting their issues.

If the fear of retaliation raises, then the employees might not raise their concerns which results in employee resignation. If the employees are comfortable in sharing their grievances through conversations with the management, more concerns of the employees come into light without the fear.

Risk Assessment

A risk is the volume of the hazard involved or expected to occur at a particular period of time at work place. Accidents can happen at any time if enough control measures are not put in place.

The risks involved at the workplace should be identified and defined in a Risk Assessment Matrix.

This Risk Assessment Matrix is used to define the various risk levels which are identified at the work place. The matrix is further categorized as a probability to occur or the severity of occurrence. It is a simple mechanism which enables to foresee the risk and assist the management to identify the control measures and take corrective actions to avoid the risk to an extent.

Once the risk is assessed, the appropriate control measures should be kept in place.

The various steps in assessing the risk is to

·         Identify the hazards involved at the workplace.

·         Identify who might get harmed or injured and how

·         Evaluate the risks and decide on the appropriate control measures which should be put in place

·         Record the risk assessment

·     Review and update the risk assessment as and when required (like when any changes occur to the normal system, when any new system is introduced, etc.,)

The risk assessment should cover all groups of people of an organization.

Educate the employees on the potential risks and the control measures to be taken at work place in order to be safe.

Risk assessment has become a legal requirement for every employer and self-employed person to make an assessment of the health and safety risks arising at the workplace. The purpose of this is to identify what needs to be done to control the risks and the preventive measures that need to be taken at work place to be safe from the potential hazards. 

Cooking Safety

Cooking is the most essential practice in kitchen. More than half of the accidental fires in the kitchen is started by cooking. It is easy to get distracted while cooking and leave things unattended.

Follow these simple tips to ensure cooking safety :

1.   Do not leave cooking food unattended. Stay near the stove until the cooking is completed, if you have to leave the kitchen, even for a second, turn off the stove.

2.    Check the food time to time while cooking and remain in the kitchen or near the kitchen until the cooking is complete.

3.       Don’t wear loose clothing while cooking.

4.  Keep the things like the oven or any other appliance and accessories in the kitchen away from your stove, that generates heat or can catch fire.

5.     Clean cooking surfaces on a regular basis to prevent grease buildup.

6.      Always keep an updated fire extinguisher in the kitchen.

7.      Before leaving kitchen always check to make sure all stoves, ovens, and small appliances are turned off.

8.    Install an excess smoke/heat alarm in kitchen and conduct a trial to check it each month and replace at least once a year.

9.       Plug microwave ovens or other cooking appliances directly into an outlet. Never use an extension cord for a cooking appliance as it can overload the circuit and cause a fire

10.   Check electrical cords for cracks, breaks, or damage.

Good Procurement Practices

It is always advised to procure goods or services from sources that are appropriate and can be procured to meet the terms like quality, cost, time, availability of goods, supply and location.

Though procuring goods or services looks complex, with the help of procedures, strategic planning and sourcing helps in making it easy when procuring goods or services for a company.

When the set procedures are simple it would be easy to follow and procure the best required goods for the benefit of the company.

Following certain steps makes it easy to procure the required goods or services

-       The purchase process should be kept simple rather than complex. Provide smart solutions to procure goods as per the requirement, timely receipt of goods, manage the suppliers by providing them with the comfort and assurance on the timely payments.

-       Create simple ways to measure your complex requirements and then turn it into a strategy that takes the complexity away.

-       Having a plethora of suppliers doesn’t help when the required goods are not available with them. To avoid such situations source appropriate suppliers as per the company’s requirements and base only on those suppliers to source the required goods.

-       Develop a successful procurement strategy with measurable objectives to ensure smooth procurement flow.

Just by following simple steps, a more efficient procurement process will yield better results.

Tips to keep kitchen Clean

A clean, safe and hygienic kitchen lowers the risk of accidents in the kitchen.

At JIC clean, hygienic and safe kitchen is the top priority in order to produce safe food. We follow few techniques to keep the kitchen clean and safe.

Staff Training:

Staff is employed specifically for cleaning purposes. The employed staff is provided with the required training on the cleaning techniques, hygienic practices which helps them in keeping the premises neat and clean.

Establish A Cleaning Schedule:

These staff is provided with a cleaning schedule to ensure that all the areas are thoroughly cleaned. A checklist is provided to them wherein they have to check mark the places cleaned and ensure that the areas attended regularly are also kept neat and clean.

              

Splashes on walls:

The tendency for the bacteria to grow is more where there is oil, sauces and other food product spill and splash on the walls. Special attention is given to wipe out these splashes to keep the walls and kitchen premises neat and clean.

Stains underneath or behind the kitchen equipments:

If the stains underneath or behind the kitchen equipments are not attended immediately they tend to become stubborn and residue, which becomes a potential breeding place for bacteria. Hence these areas should also be given equal importance and should be included in the checklist for cleaning regularly.

Keep your Waste Area Tidy

The very important place to attract pests and bacteria is the waste area of any kitchen. If the waste is kept in open, overflowing and untied garbage bags, it will be a breeding place for the bacteria.

We use color coded bins to segregate waste and empty the bins regularly to avoid overflow of waste. It becomes our priority to keep the waste area clean and tidy

Keep your kitchen clean, safe and hygienic. 

Why to keep Food Samples

Food Samples are preserved in order to validate the food shelf life period, quality, microbiological, physical and chemical effects. These samples can also be used as part of the investigation evidence against the food poisoning or food spoilage complaints raised by the customers.

While taking the food samples for further use, consider these conditions:

·      Ensure the sample is kept in a clean, well sanitized, 

     closed container so that there is no chance of food 

     contamination from the container which is used for 

      sample  storage.

·     Ensure that enough quantity of sample (minimum of 

    150 gms of food sample) is kept aside to undertake 

     relevant testing for microbiological, physical 

     and chemical analysis.

·    The samples to be retained for a minimum time of the food’s 

     shelf life. At JIC we keep all the samples for 72 hours.

·   Ensure the sample is kept in the required temperature of refrigeration (0-5*C). The temperature to be monitored to ensure the product is maintained at chiller temperature.

·      Ensure all the food samples are labelled with the date of production, the food item name  and the time at which the food was prepared.

                               

The food samples must be taken immediately after the food is prepared and it should be kept isolated from other food items to avoid any contamination of samples.

It is mandatory to keep the samples of all the food that is prepared in the kitchen in the food business.

These samples serve as evidence for the food poisoning complaints and can be given to laboratory (Microbiological) testing for ascertaining whether the food is contaminated or not.