With open flames and sharp equipment, restaurant staffs are exposed to many safety risks. The safety of your employees and customers starts by identifying hazards and developing strategies to minimize them as much as possible.
Here is how you can keep your restaurant safe for everyone.
Practice Restaurant Fire Safety
Cooking is the leading cause of restaurant fire incidents. One of the simplest ways to minimize fire hazards is to make sure your kitchen staff handles cooking dishes with care. Other fire safety measures that you can implement include installation of fire safety equipment and implementation of fire safety procedures. Installing multiple fire extinguishers and emergency lights throughout your restaurant can help mitigate fire risks. You could also keep flammable objects such as dish towels away from flames. Your kitchen staff should not wear baggy clothing that can catch fire. You also need to teach your kitchen staffs to put out a grease fire. Advise them to use a metal lid to put out a grease fire instead of water.
Provide Your Kitchen Staffs with Protective Gear
While employee training is essential for restaurant safety, your employees need protective gear to perform some tasks. You could consider providing safety glasses and dishwashing gloves to your staffs to keep them safe in the kitchen.
Train Your Staff Safety Procedure
It is vital that all your employees follow safety procedures to maintain a safe working environment. Remember the safety of your kitchen is as important as your employees. As such, one of the smartest ways to keep your restaurant safe is to encourage your employees to follow safety procedures. A certified food manager could consider tailoring their training programs to kitchen processes. You could teach your staff basic sanitation and food safety practices and let them learn to avoid contamination and handle allergens.
Safe Operation of Restaurant Appliances
A critical aspect of your training program is to teach your staff members to operate kitchen appliances safely. Employees should use all kitchen appliances accordance to the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Moreover, keep your electrical devices away from water to make your establishment safer. Stop using any electrical appliance that is showing signs of damages and cracks until you replace its power cable. You could also hire a professional to inspect the condition of your kitchen appliances. Do not attempt to fix any electrical device by yourself.
Prevention of Injuries
Enacting safety rules in your restaurant may help prevent some of the most common on-the-job injuries. You could monitor your restaurant to know which injuries happen most often and devise a strategy to avoid them. Slicers, knives and broken glass often expose restaurant staff to the risk of cuts.
You can prevent cut-related injuries by encouraging your workers to handle knives with care and concentrate when they are cutting kales or fruits. Alternatively, you can give them cut-resistance gloves for further safety. Kitchen staffs often get burned when they don’t use pot holders to hold cookware. Your kitchen could also get overcrowded especially during meal services. Even it has a premium space, keeping frequently used items in easy-to-reach places can help reduce injuries.
Repeated twisting and bending can be harmful to joints, so often used tools should be kept at arm’s length. Your employees also need to learn to lift techniques to prevent injuries when dealing with heavy equipment. Oil or water spill can also expose your employees to a risk of injury. Clear wet floors and attend to spills as soon as possible to avoid fall-related injuries.
A busy kitchen can expose your staff to many hazards. However, taking caution when using kitchen equipment and cooking can help keep your workplace safe. Make sure you have a fully-stocked first aid kit to help you contain an emergency. You could also call an emergency hotline for assistance. Practicing safety procedures at your restaurant increases the safety of your employees and keeps your restaurant efficient and operational.