Hygiene and Safety in the kitchen
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Kitchen Design Ergonomics:
- Ensure that the sink and hob are fairly close together and not separated by a door or walkway,
- Plan the kitchen so regularly used items are in easy reach, not at high level,
- Oven heights are adjusted so as to work where you are most comfortable,
- Worktop heights should be set to the most regular user, standard height is 910mm to top of worktop, which is fine if you are 5ft-10inches or over, but you could request it to be lowered if you are shorter or disabled,
- All necessary safety concerns in the kitchen should also be addressed, especially when it involves children and pets. The design should result in a kitchen that makes it harder for children to reach dangerous areas. Cabinets with locks and a breakfast bar where children can sit and watch are possibilities.
Working Practices:
- When cooking - keep all pan handles to the side, not protruding forward,
- Always boil water or other fluids on the burners at the rear of the hob,
- Never stand containers of hot water or oil at the front of the worktop,
- Keep all knives and dangerous objects in use at the rear of the worktop whilst cooking,
- Clean kitchen walls and floor daily, particularly in out of sight areas to remove food debris or grease from cooking.
- Wash your hands and rinse them before preparing food, after handling raw food, in between handling different food items, and after using the toilet.
Fat Fryers and Oil:
- Most kitchen fires start because of heating fat or oil. As oil gets hotter it begins by smoking, as it gets hotter it bursts into flames.
- To extinguish a fat fire, cover it with a fire blanket or damp cloth and turn off the gas or power. You can use foam of powder extinguishers but NEVER use water. NEVER try to carry the burning pan!
- NEVER put water or other liquids into hot cooking oil, it will turn into steam instantly, and will explode hot oil in all directions.
- Be cautious when adding food to a deep fat fryer. If the fat is too hot, or if there are pockets of cold liquid in the prepared food, the hot fat will spit up.
- Remember that steam will rise out of a deep fat fryer when you take off the cover. Use a cloth or oven gloves before opening the cover.
Fire:
- Ensure your kitchen is equipped with fire fighting equipment,
- Gas hobs should have a flame failure device which cuts off the gas supply if the flame accidentally goes out,
- Gas range cookers and all free-standing gas appliances, should be securely chained to the wall.
- Store matches and lighters out of the reach of children.
- Ensure smoke detectors are fitted and batteries are checked to be alive and in date,
- Never boil oil in anything other than a deep fat frier,
First Aid:
- Burns are usually divided into three categories depending on how much of the skin they affect. Superficial burns (first degree) affect the surface of the skin, making it red, swollen, and painful. This sort of burn can be treated at home and usually heals in between 7-10 days. Partial (second degree) and full thickness (third degree) burns are much more serious, and require medical attention.
For all minor burns - please visit the NHS *Burns* web page for advice. - If the wound is minor, the aim of the first aider is to prevent infection. More severe wounds may be very daunting to deal with, but the aim is to prevent further blood loss and minimise the shock that could result from the bleeding.
For all minor cuts - please visit the NHS *Cuts and Severe bleeding* web page for advice.
Cleaning Bacteria:
- Dishwashers clean at a very high temperature and can elliminate bacteria, often left when washing up manually in the sink,
- Tea-towel and hand towels should be cleaned regularly as they can contain bacteria left by poor hygiene,
- Never mix raw un-cooked chicken with cooked food, always clean the worktops thoroughly after any use with raw food,
- Always ensure that food on the worktops is covered, particularly in hot periods with flys around.
- Check all worktop joints/brackets and any other possible dirt traps that they are clean and free of food residue,
- Always check that fridges and freezers are cleaned, ensure any spillage is cleaned immediately,
- Regularly check sell by dates of food, particularly in the refrigerator with cooked foods, eggs and dairy products,
- Always use the extractor when cooking, it will not only reduce odours, but keep the kitchen free from steam and grease,
Sharp Objects:
- Knives and sharp objects should be stored where inaccessible to children, knife holders can be fixed to the rear walls out of reach,
- If dangerous items are difficult to store safely, fix kitchen cabinet door child locks, these are available at children's stores such as Mothercare,
- When you are using a knife, don't cut toward you or your fingers. Pay attention to where the edge of your sharp blade is pointing. Think! If you were to slip could it stick into me.
- Broken glass is sharp and dangerous. Clean it up carefully, preferably with a dustpan and brush. Wrap it in old newspaper and a seperate bag or box, then put in a well packaged bag. Make sure you don't leave pieces of it in the sponge or cloth.
Electrical:
- Make sure the switch is off before plugging in equipment.
- Unplug electric equipment before disassembling or cleaning.
- Always unplug electrical appliances when not in use such as kettles, electric knives, food proccesser and grills,
- Keep all electric cables as short as possible, to prevent children accidentally pulling on any flex which might be on view,
- Do not touch or handle electric equipment, including switches, if your hands are wet or if you are standing in water.
- Always use the correct rated fuse in the appliance. Up to 700watts use 3amps, 1200w use 5amps, 3000w use 13amps. A fuse will not stop you from being electrocuted! The correct fuse can help to prevent electrical fires.
Hot Appliances:
- Never leave what you are cooking unattended, even to answer the door or the phone. If you must leave the kitchen,
turn off the heat and take with you a reminder that you have something cooking. Turn off the oven or appliances as soon as you have finished using them. - Ensure that all care is taken to prevent children accidentally burning themselves, a good quality oven will have triple glazing on the door along with a cooling system, this is essential with the combination of low ovens and children,
- Try and keep children away from hot hobs, good education can teach them that hobs can be very dangerous,
- If a fire starts in an oven or microwave, shut the door, keep it closed, and turn off the gas or electricity supply.
Storage and Heavy objects:
- Heavy items such as electrical gadgets, large pans and casserole dishes, should be stacked in the lower base units where they are easy to lift,
- Light items such as packets and glasses should be stored in the wall units,
- Crockery is often difficult to store in cupboards, try and stack in pull-out pan drawers. Accessories are sold to hold crockery and stop items moving when drawers are opened and closed,
- Lifting a hot pot of boiling pasta is one of the most dangerous of kitchen practices. Invest in a pasta cooker that consists of a strainer inserted into a larger pot. You just lift the pasta out of the water to drain it, This is far safer than moving a heavy pot of boiling water from the hob, to the sink.
Solvents & Cleaners:
- Always keep chemicals away from children, either lock away or store at high level,
- Never mix different chemical or cleaning fluids, mixing can cause chemical reactions that can generate toxic fumes and/or explode,
- Never put bleaches or solvent cleaners in other bottles than supplied by the manufacturer, remember it isn't just the fluid can burn, some are very poisonous.
- If you must store cleaning chemicals and other possibly toxic non-food items in the kitchen, always store them on shelves below foodstuffs, so if they leak, they can't get into your food.
Flooring:
- Always wipe up spills immediately,
- Often when you are working in the kitchen you are moving fast. Don't leave boxes, stools, bags of groceries or anything else out on the floor where you can trip up, or any one else whose liable to walk buy.
- If possible, choose non-slip floor materials, laminate floors although they are easy to clean and look good, can be extremely slippery even when dry,
- If you find it tiring to stand for long periods, remember hard floors such as ceramic can be really uncomfortable, compared to timber or thick vinyl,
Please contact us to discuss your requirements.
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