Kitchen safety
Hallo and welcome to our blog. Today we’ll focus our attention on kitchen safety. We’ll try to explain it’s importance and the different aspects of it along with some tips to achieve it easier and faster.
First, let us check the statistics, shall we? Each year kitchen related injuries and accidents cause the death of 480 people. Over $7 000 000 in damage and well over a million emergency room visits also have their initial roots in low levels of kitchen security. Cuttings are the most common injuries. The most often reason for lethal cases is fire and according to professional firefighters, a well maintained and cleaned kitchen and kitchen appliances can decrease that number tangibly.
We obviously must do our best to increase the kitchen safety levels but how?
- Establish rules
#1 Carry a knife carefully, hanging down on the handle. Therefore, you’ll just drop it safely on the ground if you slip or if your are pushed.
#2 Always turn off all the appliances when you go out.
#3 Use safety cooking gloves when operating with hot cookware.
#4 Be cautious for the steam when cooking. It burns terribly if you aren’t careful.
#5 Always arrange the cookware properly in the drawer. You want nothing to fall down when you open especially sharp knifes or forks.
#6 After using the hot water, change to cold water and leave it pouring for a few seconds. The next person to use the tap will appreciate it.
#7 Make sure there is nothing to stumble on such as carpet or a rug. If your floor is tiled, make sure it’s completely dry.
#8 Always turn on the extraction unit when cooking. Mold will appear harder this way and mold can be dangerous for people with respiratory problems.
#9 All knives, forks and sharp cutlery should be with the edge down.
#10 All drawers which your kids can reach should be full of kid safe stuff. Everything which may hurt them, put on higher shelves.
#11 Do not leave dirty dishes in the sink for more than a day and throw the garbage on a daily bases. Bacteria thrive and illnesses will be avoided this way.
These kitchen safety rules you may be familiar with but they are essential. However, they are way not everything that you can do. On the contrary, they are just the fundamental basics.
- Food safety
#1 Clean all ingredients you use for cooking.
#2 Wash knives and boards after cutting every type of product.
#3 Don’t eat food which isn’t heat treated.
#4 Don’t eat food more than 3 days old.
Tip: even if you store the food in the fridge, always cover it to preserve its qualities.
If you own an eatery, a restaurant or a bakery, follow the food and safety regulations extremely strictly and pedantically. Don’t leave any chance for mistakes. Your clients may not like the taste of food, the service or your prices but if you poison someone, this may just be the end of your business. Until no one’s hurt, you’ll have opportunities to develop and grow.
Hand washing
- Hygiene
#1 Food hygiene and personal one are closely related. No matter if you work as a chef, cook for yourself or for your family. High personal hygiene standards are a must.
#2 Wash your hands as often as possible.
Tip: according to the latest food safety regulations chefs must not wear gloves when cooking. Obviously, that reflects on the hand washing frequency and at the moment gloves for restaurant cookers are prohibited.
Clean and ordered kitchen
- The second aspect of the health and safety procedure inside any kitchen is related to the relates to appliances.
Ovens
#1 For free standing cookers its important to make sure the appliance is on a secure distance from the wall. That’s especially significant if there are wallpapers on the wall which can catch fire.
#2 For built in ovens check the isolation of the machine and provide the required amount of servicing for it. That should lower the risks of fire.
#3 Gas ovens and hobs also require regular servicing. Professionals service directly to your home and can check for leakages and damages. All the servicing isn’t cheap but it’s definitely worth it.
#4 Fire safety in the kitchen does not end up with just the electrical problems which may appear. Cleanness is crucial. Grease on the heating elements of the electric oven is common fire starter according to London fire department. Every household or restaurant owner or chef must not overlook the issue. Kitchen cleanness and overall condition should be with a high priority in order to guarantee the health of consumers and cookers.
#5 When cleaning always use green cleaning solutions, especially for the for the inner oven chamber. If you cannot drink the solution, it’s probably not a good idea to use it for cleansing the oven and the oven door.
Tip: if after all you decide to clean with chemical detergent, make sure to rinse well with water before using the cooker again.
Fridge safety
Electrical issues in the system are a common problem. Regular electrical system checks are required especially for integrated or cheap fridges. These are the risk groups because they:
-Are positioned in areas with lots of flammable things around – integrated fridges like under counter ones.
-Have high fire risk factor as their quality of manufacturing is low – cheap ones.
More info: http://www.hse.gov.uk/catering/majorrisks.htm
We hope this information to be useful to you. Visit our blog again next week for more interesting and sueful information or check some of our older posts. Have a nice week.
Tags: baking, cooking, hobs, kitchen safety, oven cleaning, safety tips, tips