Shining Shoes Manually May Lead to Food Poisoning Risk!
Who would have thought that shining shoes can cause cross contamination! or causes food poisoning! or even transfer dangerous germs to your household!
Think about it – We all handle food, we touch people, we spread our germs. And what’s worst, there’s people who work in the hospitality industry that does this regularly! leading to further risk of food poisoning!
When you shine or polish your shoes, you need to take them off and hold it steady in your hands before you apply the cleaning brush. Then you apply the polish whilst at the same time making sure you’ll keep your hands away from the dirtiest part of your shoes – the soles.
In fact you’ll find it difficult not to touch the sole of your shoes – the area most likely to carry nasty germs! And if you want to know what type of germs you may pick up – well it’s not hard to imagine, especially when most of us work for a living and visit the toilet daily! And if you use the public toilet – it’s even more nasty… there’s salmonella, listeria, E.coli and the list goes on.
Well there are many solutions, but only one that stand out as being quick, easy and practical.
1. Don’t polish your shoes (forget about success and that important promotion) People do recognize clean and shiny shoes so that’s not an option for me.
2. Wear gloves – great idea, but still takes a long time
3. Sanitiser yours shoes before polishing – We’ll it’s a great idea, but also adds another step to a tiresome job.
4. Use an automatic shoe shine machine (Brillant Idea!!)
Well this whole thing came about when I visited the Hotel and Hospitality Expo in Sydney Darling Harbour (13 – 16th March 2011). I came across an exhibitor that promoted automatic shoe shine machines and I was so impressed that I’m about to buy one of their home units ($495.00 + GST). The system (German) automatically shines your shoes in under 10 seconds, but the best thing it’s handsfree. Which means no cross contamination leading to food safety in the work environment.
Apparently they are new to Australia and are used in hotels, clubs, retails, offices, clinics and homes in Australia. Visit http://shoe-shine.com.au for more information or download their shoe shine brochure.
So when you visit a hotel, ask them about using their machine. They usually have one somewhere in the foyer.
Automatic Shoe Shine Machine Reduces Cross Contamination
