Giving Thanks for Safety – What to do with leftovers?

Staying safe around the holidays is important and the hazards around the Thanksgiving holiday can pose different challenges. Distracted driving, food poisoning, and burns are the three most frequent causes of injuries during the Thanksgiving holiday period.  Find out more about these and what one company did with it’s Thanksgiving leftovers on this episode of the MEMIC Safety Experts Podcast. Resources and Links:   NSC.org – Injury Facts - https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/ Tedx – Heather Stagl - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79LI2fkNZ2k Tedx – Peter Anderton - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDsMlmfLjd4 MEMIC Safety Net Blog – YouTube – Belgin Texting While Driving test - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2FHKVzGhgA YouTube – Distracted Driving Shocker - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbjSWDwJILs MEMIC Safety Director Login – www.memic.com/workplacesafety NY Daily News – Turkey Fryer Fire - https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-turkey-deep-frying-deep-massachusetts-woman-injured-homes-destroyed-20201127-53nf6t3ymvffzjdx3qv4hhabla-story.html Alton Brown Turkey Derrick - https://altonbrown.com/how-to-build-a-turkey-derrick/ Turkey Fryer Stats - https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Fire/Articles/TurkeyFryerFiresStats.pdf SlowMo Guys – Oil Fire - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbgdRR4yj8Y USDA – Turkey: Alternate Routes - https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/poultry-preparation/turkey-alternate-routes-to-the-table/CT_Index CDC Food borne illness - https://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/index.html Food Safety – Cooking Temps - https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/safe-minimum-cooking-temperature 260 Tons of Turkey - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/how-leftover-turkey-launched-the-tv-dinner Leftover Safety - https://www.foodnetwork.com/holidays-and-parties/articles/food-safety-storing-thanksgiving-leftovers   Peter Koch: [00:00:04] Hello, listeners, and welcome to the MEMIC Safety Experts podcast, I'm your host, Peter Koch, and thanks for listening today. We have another installment of our fractional safety series where we don't jump in so deep into a topic, but just give you the highlights. And in this episode, we talk about safety around the Thanksgiving holiday. Why Thanksgiving? Well, there are some unique circumstances that can make the hazards and exposure around this holiday a little bit different than what you might see with others. But before we dig in, did you know that on November 11th, two thousand twenty one, the MEMIC Safety Experts podcast just celebrated our two year anniversary? Hopefully, you've enjoyed listening as much as the team here has enjoyed putting the episodes together for you, and to help us understand more of what safety content you like. Be sure to drop me a note at [email protected] To let me know if you like the shorter episodes like this one or one where we go into a deeper dive with a guest. Peter Koch: [00:01:00] So [00:01:00] jumping right into it? Here's a holiday dilemma for you what happens when you cook way more than you have people for? Well, more specifically, what do you do with five hundred and twenty thousand pounds of leftover turkey? Yep. Five hundred and twenty thousand pounds of leftover turkey. You heard me right? And if the first thing that popped into your head was freeze it, then you're on the right track. Way more practical than I am, because the first thing that popped into my head was, where would you even put it? The answer to that question about leftover turkeys will come a little bit later, but for now, let's think hard about holiday safety and leaving aside, but not forgetting the history of Thanksgiving and the treatment of Native Americans that will forever be part of the American story. This November holiday can be used to find gratitude and appreciation for family, friends, neighbors and dignity of those in our extended communities. The days before, during and after Thanksgiving are usually filled [00:02:00] with preparation, decoration and celebration, and each carries their own share of exposures that sometimes cause injury and sometimes can turn tragic. According to numerous internet sources and my own personal experience, the top three injury causes around the November holiday are traffic accidents, fires and either food poisoning or some sort of alcohol related event. Think about food poisoning and that two hundred and sixty tons of leftover turkey now that could be a recipe for disaster if it got out. So before we go there, let's talk about traffic first. Did you know that the National Safety Council has a holiday traffic fatality estimate report they put out for each year? So if you go to injuryfacts.NSC.org and search holiday traffic, you'll find it. And for the Thanksgiving holiday period for two thousand twenty one, the National Safety Council estimates that four hundred and eighty five people will die in the United States from traffic [00:03:00] accidents. That's second only to the Independence Day holiday period, with an estimate of four hundred and eighty two traffic fatalities. So why is Thanksgiving travel different? There are many possibilities, such as road rage, impairment, fatigue and even weather. But regardless of the reasons, one fact is the sheer number of travelers around Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving holiday period sees the highest usage of the interstate system than any other holiday period, and we've had a reprieve this last year with the COVID travel restrictions. But this holiday, the National Safety Council is expecting another increase. So if you're traveling or have employees traveling around the holiday period, try these driving safety tips. Peter Koch: [00:03:43] First plan ahead. Be sure your vehicle is in good condition and allow for extra time around your travel. Nothing drives road rage and aggressive decisions like the combination of traffic jams and a tight time schedule. If you're an employer of drivers, then considering allowing [00:04:00] extra time this time of year to get the job done, and there's a lot of psychology around leadership and behavior change and leading teams around production expectations is a lot more nuanced than you think. So check out this TED talk about how to deal with resistance to change with Heather Stegall. Or there's another talk about how great leadership only has two rules by Peter Anderton. We'll leave the links in the show notes, and I think these are pretty good things for you to watch and maybe get some ideas about how to lead some change around the holiday season. So now that you have enough time to get where you want to go, be sure that you can stay alert so alertness can take many different forms and first is to just stay awake. People fall asleep at the wheel all the time and caused fatal traffic accidents. Or sometimes they're lucky and they wake up just before something happens and they're able to manage it. But really, be sure that you're well-rested before even starting the trip. If you start from fatigue, that will only exacerbate the problems that we face when traveling [00:05:00] and along the drive. You should find time to stop and get out to get the circulation going. The old adage that the brain can only take with the butt can withstand goes for driving too, getting up and getting moving. Gets the blood flowing and will help with alertness, as well as making you feel better at the end of the journey. Interested in some quick exercises and stretches that can help for the long haul? We'll check out the stretching posts at the MEMIC Safety Net blog. The links will be in the show notes, but you can search at any time you want by going to MEMIC.com/WorkplaceSafety Find the safety net blog and just search for stretches. Peter Koch: [00:05:37] Now that you are awake, stay on task and avoid distractions. Your brain can't manage the phone or even an in-depth conversation combined with the demands of a changing driving environment. You may think you can, but what you're really doing at any given point when driving and doing something else is using old information to respond to the current situation. Think about it before you [00:06:00] look up from your phone or return your attention to the road. Your brain has been using information from the last time that you were fully engaged and has been making assumptions about speed, trajectory based on experience and that information. So when you look back and the roadway, suddenly changes surprise a curve, a pothole pedestrian, another vehicle, an animal. Whatever it is, your brain has to readjust to the current environment and make a snap decision. Do I turn? Do I slow down? Do I speed up? Do I swerve? Maybe I do it all together, and that readjustment takes time. And if you add speed and other people's decisions into the mix, then it's a recipe for disaster. What can you do besides being rested? Put the cell phone on Do Not Disturb and keep it out of sight because no call or text or post is really worth it. If you need it for navigation, put in a place that's not going to be in the way and that you can reference it only when you need to get [00:07:00] to where you're going. If you want to see an interesting video on texting while driving, I'll leave a link to one in the show notes. It's where Belgian learner drivers react to being told that they had to pass a mobile phone usage proficiency test in order to get their driver's license. It's pretty funny, so the instructor sits in the car with them and actually tells them that they have to text while driving and they're on a closed track so that there's no other things that are going to get in the way, but they're still having to text and drive at the same time. Their reactions are pretty hilarious, and it's funny to see what the instructor has to do just to keep them on the road. So these are just a couple of tips of having a good journey. And if you're interested in more, you can go over to the CDC and search for holiday road safety. Or if you're a MEMIC policyholder, you can go to the MEMIC Safety Director at www.MEMIC.com/WorkplaceSafety for more good information. Peter Koch: [00:07:59] Now that you've arrived [00:08:00] safely, what's the next most frequent cause of injury over the Thanksgiving holiday? Well, burns from hot pans, liquids and utensils or from fires. Lets take the burns from hot pans or utensils first. This is a pretty easy one, so just assume, assume I know it's crazy, but just assume that everything in the kitchen is hot. Sure, you might have asbestos hands, but not everybody does. So you should keep some good oven mitts or pot holders handy in the kitchen and then use them. You'll be surprised how a little leading by example will set the stage for others to follow. So the next are hot liquids and lots of things that we cook have liquid in or on them. And from the water we boil to the fat's used to cook or are the result of cooking spilled hot liquids can cause significant burns. I had the opportunity to review the unfortunate opportunity to review an injury report from a commercial kitchen [00:09:00] where a line cook was moving a pot of boiling water from the stove to the sink to drain. And he bumped into someone behind him just as he started moving and the water sloshed out of the pot onto his foot and into his shoe. He had second and third degree burns on the top of his foot and couldn't wear a shoe for weeks. It was a pretty miserable injury for him, and I remember having a conversation with him after reviewing the written report, and he's like, You know, I really didn't think that this was going to happen. I've been in the kitchen for years. I'm really good at this. I knew what I was doing. He just at that point in time, lost situational awareness, didn't know who was behind him, didn't check his back. The person that was walking past him didn't see what was going on and the circumstances combined with what he was wearing to cause some pretty substantial burns and injuries to him. So here are some extra tips when dealing with hot liquids in the kitchen. Well, commercial or otherwise, whether you're working over the Thanksgiving holiday, [00:10:00] preparing meals for the rest of us who might be going out, or you're preparing a meal for family and friends at home. So the first? Don't overfill the pot or container when it's filled right to the top or close to it, there's much less room for error. So a pot that's filled right up to the top and you bump it or slosh it, it's going to come out, it's going to overflow. And chances are it could drop onto your hand or your foot or someone else. So second, use covers when moving containers with hot liquid or really anything in them. A container with a top on it can help keep the liquid where it belongs. If it needs to cool, then uncover it after moving. Next, consider using a cart to move pots with hot liquids in them, especially if you are in a commercial setting and are moving containers from one station to another. Using a cart will help keep the hot liquid at a distance if a spill happens and you out of the danger zone. Last but really, there's other things that you can consider to but last in this list is always [00:11:00] wear close toed, slip resistant shoes in the kitchen. Slippers, socks, sandals, pumps or other shoes with open toes or holes in the toes have no business in the kitchen. Many times liquids get spilled because someone slips, or if someone has slipped, it could be because someone has spilled something so slip resistant. Footwear for the kitchen is a key prevention tool. Peter Koch: [00:11:24] Now let's talk about burns from fires, not consider this. You've decided to fry a turkey for Thanksgiving, so you make room in the carport, garage or deck because you want it to be outside. Break out the turkey fryer, add your oil, crank up the burner and then head to get the turkey that's been thawing in the fridge overnight. You size the turkey when you bought it, so it will fit into the pot and you made sure to place the fryer just outside the carport or garage so that you can still stay out of the elements while you're cooking good to go right? What could go wrong? Well, it turns out [00:12:00] a lot could go wrong. Did you know that the U.S. fire departments respond to more than one thousand deep fryer related fires every year? This includes the fires caused by improper use of a turkey fryer, too. In 2020, the New York Daily Times reported on a Thanksgiving Day fire that left three homes destroyed and a woman seriously injured. It was expected that the fire was caused by a turkey fryer. You can read the whole article from the link in the show notes, but it was a pretty devastating fire where actually the propane tank exploded as well, so they're not exactly sure what happened. But there's multiple ways for that particular situation to happen. If you do find yourself eyeing that turkey fryer to move the turkey cooking tradition outside. Be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions and use these safety practices. So first, do a perimeter check. Keep the area around above and below the fryer free from any flammable or combustible [00:13:00] material like trees, ceilings, decks, people, decorations, whatever. Keep the space kid and pet free as well. Second, level it up. Place the fryer on a low stable surface that allows you to lift the turkey out of the fryer easily. If you want to check out a pretty cool in a very interesting take on getting the bird in and out of the fryer, check out Alton Brown's Turkey Derrick, and I'm going to leave a link to that video in the show notes as well. Next, measure up, so use the correct amount of oil to prevent any spill over, and it's really important that you do this. You have to measure the correct amount necessary by first placing the turkey in the pot with water, and that's going to give you an idea of how much volume the turkey is going to displace, so that that's the amount of oil that you can keep in there just enough to cover the turkey and not too much. So it's going to overflow when you put the turkey in it. This is going to help you avoid overflowing the hot oil onto the burner when you load the turkey into the fryer. Next, [00:14:00] warm it up and pat it down. And that's all about the turkey. So thaw and dry the turkey before frying as a partially frozen turkey can cause the water that's in the turkey when it meets the hot oil to vaporize instantly, changing to steam and expanding more than 1000 times its original volume. When this happens, the oil will bubble over and contact the flame underneath. This can, and when it does happen, it happens explosively. If you want to see what happens when water hits hot oil, check out the slow mo guys video about an oil fire at two thousand five hundred frames a second. The link is in the show notes, and don't try this at home for sure. Next, turn the flame off first, turn the burner off before adding or removing the turkey from the fryer. This will help avoid an explosion or an uncontrolled flame if you miss any water or frozen bits when inserting the bird. Or if you misjudge the amount of [00:15:00] oil next. Make yourself comfortable. Make yourself a comfortable space to hang out while the turkey is cooking because you want to stay close enough so that you can tend the fryer and make sure the oil doesn't get too hot. Most turkey fryers don't have any kind of temperature regulation, so the oil can be heated to its ignition point and beyond. And that in itself is a recipe for disaster. So last, and this is just for prevention, but last, make sure that you have a fire extinguisher charged and ready. Make sure it's an ABC or k rated fire extinguisher. You never want to use water on a grease or oil fire. It's just going to spread the fuel. If you're looking for more safety tips around different ways to cook your bird. Check out an article the USDA put out recently called Turkey alternate routes to the table. Peter Koch: [00:15:50] After burns, the next most frequent cause of injury is around food prep and food safety. Poisoning from poorly prepared food or languishing leftovers is [00:16:00] really a thing. Even today, the CDC estimates that 48 million people get sick. One hundred and 28000 are hospitalized and 3000 people die every year from food borne illness. Some of these incidents occur from bacteria that contaminates the food at the processing facility. Some come from cross-contamination when preparing the food, and still, others happen when people eat improperly stored food. Regardless of how the food was contaminated, we must rely on good preparation and storage techniques to ensure the safety of the food that we consume. Consider the phrase keep cold food cold and hot food hot when you are preparing or putting away food this holiday season as hot food cools and cold food warms. Bacteria can start to grow at some level of temperature and time. Food can go bad and, if consumed, can cause food poisoning. If the dish or the ingredients are designed to be served hot or cold, then keep [00:17:00] them that way. Plan on serving smaller portions and leave the balance in the warmer or in the fridge ready to refill the serving dish. Check out FoodSafety.gov for more information about minimum cooking temperatures. We're going to put some links in the show notes for that one as well. Peter Koch: [00:17:16] So let's end with leftovers and the answer to the question of what do you do with two hundred and sixty tons or five hundred and twenty thousand pounds of leftover turkey? So the story goes in 1953, the CA Swanson and Co. slightly overestimated the demand for Thanksgiving turkeys that year and found themselves with 260 tons of leftover turkey, and they had to store it in the railcars. So in the 1930s, refrigeration was still just beginning to become a common thing in the households. And by 1950, there were still limitations, especially around transportation of refrigerated foods or frozen foods. At that time, [00:18:00] when Swanson made that overestimation, the refrigeration units on the railcars only worked when the train was moving. So the company recognized that unless the train kept the moving, the turkeys with thaw and then spoil. So to preserve the frozen birds cold food cold, remember the railcars they were stored on were sent back and forth between the company's headquarters in Nebraska and the East Coast until the company could figure out what to do with them. Legend has it that eventually these turkeys were turned into Swanson's first frozen dinners. Pretty interesting story. So if you're looking for more about that and how they came to determine what to do with all these turkeys and how they made a frozen dinner and how frozen dinners really took off, you can check out the story at National Geographic.com And we'll leave a link for that one, too. In the show notes So good thing modern refrigeration doesn't rely on locomotion anymore. Peter Koch: [00:18:55] So to keep your dinner ready for yummy leftovers, follow these tips. First. [00:19:00] Don't let them languish. Cool your leftovers as quickly as possible. Don't let them sit out on the table waiting for everyone to wake up after the game before you start to put them away. Always use clean containers for your leftovers instead of wrapping the existing serving dishes. Number three. Think shallow pack leftovers in shallow containers, and this is going to help with the cooling process so that it'll pass more quickly from the warm stage to the cold stage and prevent bacteria from growing quickly. Number four. Consider short term storage only in the refrigerator. You want to keep your leftovers in the fridge for only up to four days any longer. Can allow bacteria to begin to grow. We've all found that container of what used to be food long lost in the back of the fridge. Food doesn't need to be green and fuzzy or slimy in orange to be dangerous. It just takes a little bit of bacteria that we consume to put us into a state of food poisoning. [00:20:00] So number five and last for this particular list is keep frozen, so when we think about preservation, the colder, the better and frozen can keep something preserved for a long time. So you want to freeze any leftovers that you want to keep longer than four days. And if you package these in smaller portions for freezing, it makes the thawing and rewarming easier later on. And you don't have to take out a huge container of turkey or potatoes or sweet potatoes or vegetables and thaw the whole thing for just a small meal, for lunch, or maybe for dinner at a different time. If you're looking for more leftover food safety tips, check out the article from the Food Network that we're going to leave in. The show notes there as well. Peter Koch: [00:20:47] So there's a lot more that we can talk about but this is going to wrap up our fractional safety episode of the Safety Experts podcast. So today, remember that we've been talking about the three most frequent causes of injuries around Thanksgiving, and they were [00:21:00] traffic accidents or driving burns and then food poisoning. If you'd like to hear more about a past topic or have an idea for an episode, then email me at [email protected]. Also, check out our show notes at MEMIC.com/podcast, where you can find additional resources and links to the articles that I referenced, as well as our entire podcast archive. And while you're there, sign up for the Safety Net blog so you never miss any of our articles or safety news updates. And if you haven't done so already, I'd really appreciate it. If you would subscribe to the podcast and then take a minute or two to review us on Spotify, iTunes or whatever podcast service that you found us on. And if you've already done that, well, thanks because it really, truly helps us spread the word. Please consider sharing this show with a business associate friend or a family member who you think will get something out of it. And as always, thank you for the continued support and until next time, this is Peter [00:22:00] Koch reminding you that listening to the MEMIC Safety Experts podcast is good, but using what you learned here is even better.