Personal Safety and PPE in Kitchen Environment

Personal Safety and PPE

Every kitchen employee must lookout for their personal safety as it is very important. Due to inadequate care and ignorance these issues may lead to physical, sociological, financial or socio-economical losses or even possible death, what could be more valuable than your survival?  

Therefore when working in a kitchen must take a good care and follow the required safety procedure.

Use a dry oven cloth, not a dirty wet tea-towel when carrying or using hot pots, plates or dishes. Wet cloths carry the heat straight through to your hands or skin and this will scald. If the item is really hot, you may drop the pot or plate and cause more burns by spilling the hot food or liquid over yourself or someone near you.

Use goggles and masks (PPE) when handling cleaning chemicals or any chemicals that may have strong fumes which may burn your eyes or throat. Some chemicals are corrosive and may burn your throat or lungs if inhaled which is very painful. The effect of these fumes is not always obvious at the time. After several years problems start to show. The long-term effects of some of these products may even result in permanent disability or death.

Use gloves when handling chemicals. Some chemicals can cause bad burns.

You should NEVER lift and pour chemicals from a large container into a smaller one. The large container may be too heavy and you could spill the chemical over yourself or and anyone standing near you. This may cause a very serious bum to one or both of you requiring emergency treatment somewhen possible death.

If you have to transfer chemicals from large containers into smaller containers, you should use pumps or taps.

When lifting always keep your back straight and knees bent and lift with your legs. A demo chart has attached in this manual for the easy access.

Make sure you are trained how to use the equipment properly and safely at your workplace

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

Some tasks we do can be dangerous if we do not protect ourselves such as when we are using chemicals or dangerous equipment. Many tasks we perform in a hospitality environment will always carry some degree of risk to our safety.

When equipment such as safety glasses, gloves, ear protection and safety clothing are provided it is in your own best interests to wear and use this equipment when carrying out these dangerous tasks

You may need to use PPE when: i- Using a chemical to clean cooking equipment - gloves and safety glasses

      Are working in transport area such as a storeroom with forklifts - Hi visibility vests must be worn.

      When using power tools to carry out maintenance work - wear gloves and safety glasses

      When cleaning using any chemicals – gloves, musk and possibly safety glasses.

      When disposing of glass into bins – gloves, safety glasses

      When working where heavy items are - safety shoes (steel caps)

Occupational Health and Safety in a Kitchen environment

Occupational Health and Safety

Each piece of equipment will have a different procedure to operate it and may have very important specific safety instructions.

Look at the manual for the equipment or ask your supervisor for specific details. However there are some general safety instructions when cleaning equipment:

      Make sure the power is turned off and the plug disconnected from the power point J- Make sure the pilot light of any gas equipment is turned off

      Use protective clothing such as gloves and goggles if the chemical or equipment requires such precautions

      Ensure ventilation is adequate to disperse any fumes

      Use the correct chemical

      Don't mix different chemicals

      If you are unsure how to use a chemical or clean a specific piece of equipment ASK!

      Read the MSDS

Removing excess chemical

After cleaning equipment ensure that you have rinsed the chemical off completely before you use the equipment to prepare or cook food.Many food contamination incidents have occurred when chemicals have not been properly rinsed off the equipment before food use.

Knives                                                                                                                                                                                          NEVER put dirty knives into a washing sink, detergent and suds will hide the knife. A person putting their hands in the sink may cut themselves on a sharp knife.

Floors                                                                                                                                                                                              When mopping floors they become wet and it is easy for an unsuspecting person to slip and injure themselves on a slippery floor. When mopping the floor ensure other workers in the area know that the floor is wet and place "Slippery when wet" signs out where people can see them.

Remember always COMMUNICATE THE HAZARD!

Sharp items

When disassembling equipment such as slicers be careful with sharp blades, the can and will cause severe injury if handled in an inappropriate way.

Remove electrical plug before disassembling electrical equipment

Electrical items

Always remove the electrical plug from the wall socket BEFORE cleaning an electrical item.

Water and electricity do not mix well and it may become very dangerous causing electrocution and possibly death.

Also if the item is accidentally turned on it may start to operate and may cause serious injury.

Safety at Kitchen

Safety at Kitchen is a vital role. No matter what position you are working, you have to take care of yourself first. If you stay alive with the kitchen environment you can make your living.One of the safety issue is Knife Safety :

Knife safety

• Never attempt to catch a falling knife - let it fall
• Never put knives in the water of a wash up sink - they cannot be seen and may cause a cut
• Keep knives sharp - blunt knives may lead you to use excessive force and slip
• Hand the handle to the other person when passing a knife
• When walking with a knife always blade down - Don't throw or play with knive

Finally Its your valuable knife. Don't leave it to others. 

Kitchen Safety

1. Kitchen Safety

Due to a lack of safety measurements in hospitality industry accidents and injury has become more serious problem nowadays. Accidents don't usually just happen. They are often a combination of factors that are the cause of the accident. Unsafe working conditions and practices can lead to injury, illness or even death. Therefore it is recommended that everybody related to the kitchen should have an extra care and precaution on kitchen safety matters to prevent any unusual happen.

Every employee and employ should follow the safety measurement but just before that it is good to know how the safety issues arises in the kitchen, what preventive step should follow and what those incidents cost to the both side of organization?

There are many things which can place you at risk of injury or illness in the workplace. Anything that places a person at risk is called a HAZARD.

Usually you can see a hazard but sometimes they are not so obvious, e.g. you can see boxes on the floor or a broken rung on a ladder, but sometimes you can't see electricity or the temperature of very hot water.

People can also be a hazard. Often it is just a careless mistake or a practical joke that can injure someone for life or worse; cost someone’s life. Here are just some of the hazards that can cause serious injury or harm in the workplace.

Obstructions- Spare equipment piled in fire exit doors or in stairwells. This is a serious offence to block the fire exit door and stairwells. Any staff notice any object or individual blocking the exits, should remove at once and report the matter to authority.

Spills- A simple spill of water, food, oil, drinks or any other item on the floor can result in falls, broken bones or head injuries. Please don’t wait till someone is injured clean the spills, talk to supervisor and report. Take an extra care for the oil and grease.

Poor maintenance- Electrical cords, or electric or gas work done by an unqualified person is a hazard. All breakdowns of faulty equipment must be reported and repaired by a qualified person.

No safety guards on machinery or equipment- Safety guards are there for a reason. Use them all the time and please do not remove them.

Poor lighting- Working in badly light areas is also a hazard. If you cannot see what you are doing you may fall, cut or burn yourself which may lead you to a serious injury. If you are in a situation like that please do not continue work anymore report to supervisor and move to a well light area.

Incorrect storage- Always store goods and chemicals properly. Incorrect storage of any item is a hazard. Heavy items should be stored on the bottom, lighter items on top. Chemicals should always be in a separate, well ventilated and cool area which prevents fumes building up and avoids explosions if the chemicals react to heat.

Food must never be stored with chemicals.

Unsafe shelving- Storerooms or any store area should have strong shelves suitable for the goods they are holding, e.g. in cold rooms, the shelves should be rust-free metal, slotted and removable for cleaning. Do not climb up shelves, you may slip and fall and suffer serious injuries. If you can't reach something on a high shelf ask a taller colleague to get it for you or use a ladder.

Incorrect use of equipment- Trolleys are for carrying heavy loads of goods, not people. Milk crates are not stepladders. All electrical or gas equipment is for a certain type of job - instructions on how to use it should be followed.

There are many other things in the workplace that cause accidents and illness. Injuries usually happen suddenly and without warning.

Cost of incidents

Every year in the hospitality industry many workers die and some are in serious injured because of workplace illness and injury. Because of this very serious problem every country has some specific law to prevent that type of injury. As well as the problems or costs for the person who is injured there are also many other problems and costs that occur when people are injured or suffer illness at work.

Human cost - How much is a life worth? Even if it is not fatal, an accident can cause permanent injury that will cause pain, suffering and financial hardship for the rest of someone's life. J

Social cost - The impact of a workplace injury is not only felt by the injured person. An injured worker may not be able to earn the same income and may struggle to support their family, make loan payments, pay school fees, etc.

Economic cost - Medical and rehabilitation costs, the possible need for social security for the injured parties or their family, together with loss of normal wages reduces what injured workers and their families have to spend, causing a change in lifestyle.

Organizational costs - The business also has many costs when a worker is injured and unable to work.

These may include:

medical costs

the increased cost of wages to replace the injured person

the cost of training a new person

increased insurance costs

the workplace does not operate as well without the experienced staff member

loss of time and money attending the injury and its causes

Possible fines from the courts for having the accident happen.

Some common tips about the kitchen safety to remember: .

Wipe up spills immediately. Someone who enters the kitchen may not notice water or grease on the floor before he or she slips.

Avoid using a shaky chair or milk crate to reach a high shelf.

Keep pot holders handy- and use them. Be careful if they get wet; water conducts heat.

Turn the handles on pots and pans inward and away from the edge of the stove where they may be knocked.

Avoid overfilling pots and pans. Hot soup, stew, or pasta can quickly burn if it spills on you.

Be careful with the hot-water tap.

Face away when opening a lid from the boiling pot.

Avoid dropping water into hot oil. The splatters may burn you.

Put a lid on pot or use baking soda for grease fires to control the flame. Please do not use water.

Keep electrical cords away from stove burners.

Handle knives for safety. Store them carefully, perhaps in a knife holder. Avoid leaving them in the dishpan where you can't see them. Use sharp knives; dull knives are harder to use and promote injury. Always cut away from you, using a cutting board.

Watch out for broken glass. Remove it immediately. If glass breaks in the sink, empty the water so you find all the pieces before you cut yourself.