SOUTHWICK, Mass. (WGGB) –With the lunch rush heading in, employees at Southwick’s Summer House get ready.
Except today they’ve added something a little extra to the menu, Purell.
“We’ve also added hand sanitizer on our counter for employees and customers to use. We remind them it’s to be used in conjunction with hand washing, not in replacement of it,” said co-owner Steve Grimaldi.
Grimaldi picked some up because he too has been hearing just how dangerous this flu season already is.
Typically the illness doesn’t peak until February/March. However, people seldom consider restaurants as a place where they can catch it, not just from others, but by touching everything from the ketchup to the tables and seats. “We have a sanitized solution we use on our tables, but I also remind the staff that even though they can catch the flu with a sneeze or a cough, it can also come off of anything they can touch,” Grimaldi added.
The flu can live on a surface anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hrs. That’s why employees at Summer House don’t have to touch anything to wash their hands not the soap, not the sink, not even the paper towels. While customers here aren’t worried about getting sick at all, they certainly won’t have to worry about blaming summer house for it.
“I can’t concern myself with that. It’s more important for a guy with my trim figure to get something to eat!” exclaimed Richard Fiore.
“Not really, I had a flu shot, and what comes, what comes. Not much I can do about it,” Fran Zeniski chuckled.
“I know it should probably deter me from eating out, but I don’t really think it comes to mind when somebody says ‘Oh, let’s go out to eat , oh I’m going to get the flu,’” Megan Griffin said.
The way Grimaldi sees it, if you work for him and feel yourself coming down with something, no pressure. Stay home. “No one yet. We’ve been very, very lucky. No one’s even come down with a sniffle. In case they are, I’d rather have them stay home.
Other germ-ridden places in restaurants include menus, rims of glasses, and lemon wedges, so you might not want to get one in your next drink.
It doesn’t matter if you leave hand sanitizer or not. You are still letting your employees attend to work sick with fevers and so on. They have OSHA rules and regulations about health standards. Do these restaurants need a refreshing course?
I see it all the time in the workplace….employees should be sent home if they are sick
The easiest way to avoid the flu is to die. Short of that, wrap yourself in cellophane. Guess what, people, everyone gets sick and some people die. It sucks, and we should do what is reasonable to avoid it, but there such a thing as going too far. We can’t eradicate the flu.
Beef up your nutrition and get plenty of sleep and clean water and air and you’ll be ahead of the game.
I wish more public places would follow this level of sanitation!