Firstly on behalf of FAAM International, I would like to thank you for visiting this article.
I may not be talking about Restaurants and Industrial Kitchens in this post as there are certain rules and safety protocols that are implemented and followed in commercial kitchens in general.
Rather the focus is on our domestic kitchens which can be equally as dangerous as any commercial kitchen can be. Therefore, the intent of this post is to emphasize on the importance of safety at home.
Lets first look at some of the most common factors that can result in a hazard or incident in our kitchens.
1) Slips Trips and Falls
2) Utensils and Dress code
3) Children and pets
4) Confined Space
5) Hot Objects and Fire
6) Overstocking
1)
Slips Trips and Falls
Slippery floor is a very common occurrence in a kitchen due to various reasons. Toys lying on the floor, kids crawling between your legs, or pets wagging their tails and licking your hands while you are trying to cook could be contributing factors. Even floor mats that have no grips are a common cause of slips and trips.
Safeguard against slippery floors can be done by keeping floors clean and uncluttered and, where necessary, using slip resistant mats and or wearing slip resistance slippers. Choosing a floor cleaning chemical with good grease-removal and slip-resistance properties is often helpful. Although challenging to do but cleaning a spill as soon as it occurs is extremely important.
I have seen some people use barricades around their kitchen entrances or at least near the cooking range to prevent kids and pets from interfering while the focus is on cooking. However, on a cautionary note, be careful no to create a tripping hazard by these barricades.
2)
Utensils and Dress Code
The type of pots and pans used, the capability of the lids to seal properly to avoid spills and the kind of dress worn while cooking matter a lot when it comes to safety. Many accidents may be prevented by using proper equipment and attire in the Kitchen.
Cooking in your boxers or bra and panties only is not a wise thing to do even though that would be convenient to do. Recommendations are to use long sleeves to reduce burns but make sure the sleeves are not too loose to catch fire while you are stirring the pan nor are they loose to catch on to hooks and corners. Heavy pans are also recommended for increased stability and fewer spills.
When it comes to utensils, knife handling is another area to pay attention to - Take time to train yourself on proper knife handling specially when you work with a newer knife that you are not that used to. Keep your knives sharp, handles secure and store with the blades covered. It is funny that a sharp knife is considered dangerous however in reality a sharp knife requires less pressure to cut and hence turns out to be more stable and safer as the chances of it slipping off and damaging some thing else due to the force applied are lesser.
3) Children and pets
One might not realize but the most probabilistic hazard in a kitchen can be children and pets. With the open concept homes that most of us own now this hazard is even higher as you can experience flying objects into the kitchen, on the stove and at times into the pans. The visualization of Kids jumping around the kitchen area makes me shiver a bit. The same goes to pets as well. The best approach that some of my friends and family members take is to complete cooking early morning while the kids are still sleeping or get it done while they are at school. Other precautions would be to engage the kids into a healthy learning activity that will divert their attention from converting the kitchen area into a play ground. using barricades is another approach that some parents take. Use whichever suits you and your kids or pets best.
4) Confined Space
Not much need to be said about this except that if you are a utensil lover who has every kind of spoon, dish, pan, fork and glass. The chances are that you will be struggling for space no matter how big your kitchen is. Need not say the pantry will be overstocked as well which will come later. No matter how big or small the collection is in reality only a few of these precious items will be used at any given time for any given cooking. Hence the best approach would be to get rid of all the unwanted items from the counter tops and tables. Common sense !! yeah sure. Another trick that some use is to keep the Dish washer empty so that it turns out handy to load up stuff into the dish washer directly as it gets used rather than clogging the kitchen sink.
5) Hot Objects and Fire
With the word Kitchen, the first thing that comes into mind is Hot and Fire. Proper hand gloves are a must when handling hot pots and pans. this is where full sleeves are helpful too. One thing that typically gets ignored though are the eyes. One should use proper covering for the eyes to avoid excessive eye dryness due to heat or stuff splashing into the eyes. Again all the precautions mentioned above contribute to better safety with heat and fire. don't clutter your range top with too many pots as this generally results in a burn.
Follow these housekeeping rules to help prevent kitchen fires:
- Never leave dish rags or aprons near a hot surface.
- Never leave stoves or other equipment unattended when in use.
- Clean range hoods and stoves on schedule to help reduce build-up.
- Don't overload electrical outlets.
- Don't force three-pronged cords into two-prong outlets.
- Don't use equipment with a frayed cord or bent prongs.
- Don't use equipment that smokes, sparks or otherwise arouses suspicion.
6) Overstocking
Last but not the least, overstocking of items in the cabinets specially the overhead ones is a setup for a hazard. Stuff falling off when the pantry door is opened or when one items is lifted from the shelves is going to trigger an avalanche which can be dangerous at times. As the general rule heavy stuff should always be stored either on the ground or on the lower racks in the pantry. Same goes with the cabinets. well marked boxes and containers is a good practice as it helps to identify what is in the stocks and where is it located .
Although, there can be many other hazards that one could add but the intent of the article was to highlight the most common ones and provide some basic and simple to adopt recommendations and preventive measures.
Other than the safety tips provided we do sell a collection of kitchen utensils and home décor items on our online store at great prices. If you noticed, some of the items are displayed throughout the article as well.
Do visit us online at
www.FAAMIntl.com to check our kitchen collection and discounts plus we offer
FREE shipping anywhere across USA and Canada.
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