Tuesday, May 25, 2021

First foray into processing plants shows COVID preventions still in place ... and apparently working

 For those unaware, not only do I work for We R Food Safety!, but I'm also the editor-in-chief of the industry trade publication, The National Provisioner. I've been working for NP for more than 15 years now, covering all the innovation and attempting to share the great work the industry has done during that time (since the mainstream media isn't always the most helpful when it comes to that).

One of the primary tenets of my role with NP is to visit processors to see, learn and share details of successful initiatives, innovation and great ideas! These articles could be fielded over the phone and email, but we've always held the belief that readers wanted to see our editors learning first-hand, in-person. Even through the worst of the Great Recession, I traveled the country to report on "cool things" happening at plants all over the place.

So, as you might expect, the last 15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic had burned a hole in the very fiber of my being on NP. Although I don't relish spending hours in airports, airplanes and rental cars, I *do* very much relish the personal connections and eyewitness education I get when visiting these facilities and meeting the people.

Last week, finally, I got back on the road. I visited two processing plants in south Alabama for our upcoming June eMagazine cover story. I wasn't sure what to expect out on the road for the first time in 15 months, and there were some things that surprised me -- and some that did not.

First, all the COVID-19 precautions were in place and running smoothly at the plants I visited. Temperature screening to get into the plant was a cakewalk (and pretty sweet technology, if you ask me!) with no bottlenecks or problems. I did come in between shift changes, but still, the way it was set up appeared solid.

Although the absence of them in many public areas in south Alabama was a bit of a shock to the system for this Chicago resident, with regard to face coverings, everyone in and around the plants had them on. Then again, with the amount of personal protective equipment worn in "normal" times, a face covering on a plant worker isn't really a stretch.

Lastly, partitions were still up and being maintained all across the processing floor and in the break areas. The partitions were probably the most "odd," as I am used to getting up on a ladder or catwalk and taking in the entire processing floor from above. But with the partitions in place, it looked more like a stainless-steel individual cubicle farm, rather than a smoothly running disassembly line. Indeed, product was still running smoothly and workers had plenty of space to perform their tasks, but there was a certainly level of what I might call "loneliness" that I thought I'd feel if I had to work in one of those areas.

It was great getting out on the road again. And despite media reports of people getting kicked off planes for not wearing their masks, there was no one on my flights who caused any kind of ruckus. Everyone did what they were supposed to do: Follow the rules to keep people safe. I didn't even hear complaining, honestly. Well, not any more than a normal flight might see.

So, keep up the great work protecting your employees, obviously without sacrificing food safety and quality along the way. After a bumpy start, the industry engineered solutions that work. Let's keep them in place!

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