scooper, anything you can do to reduce/prevent pathogens from remaining alive on food contact surfaces will help. What you do not have any control over, however, is how the meat was handled before packaging, and with a bit of rough handling, what can happen to packages which become damaged during shipping or stocking in the meat coolers. I've even seen some consumers tossing things about in the coolers while digging for the pack they want to buy. These are situations where some contamination could take place, which is why we try to get the surface of our meats heated up fairly quickly when cooking...to kill off the nasty lil' bugs before they can cause any harm. You just can't tell if the surface of the meat has any nasties or not.
The idea of keeping your work surfaces and utensils sterile is great...sometimes the food your working with is the actual culprit, and observing good food handling and cooking practices helps to avoid additional problems from the food itself.
Eric