Restaurant Safety: The 5 Guidelines You Should Follow

Running a restaurant is just like running any other business. It’s about profit, customer experience and staff satisfaction. All three of these factors heavily depend on the safety of the restaurant in question. You’re working with grease, which means that there’s a risk of fire. You’re also working with food, which means that there’s a risk of food poisoning if conditions are not up to the highest standard. Most importantly, there are so many ways your employees can get injured and with just a bit of care, strategy and rapid execution, you can mitigate the majority of these risks. Here are five guidelines you should follow to ensure this.

Where there’s grease, there’s fire. In the kitchen, there are so many ways for a fire to start and get out of control. There are three biggest culprits of a potential fire:

• Untrained or undertrained staff (or simple staff negligence)
• Unattended electrical hazard
• Appliance failure

In order to minimize these risks, you need to approach each of these issues separately and address them in order to root out the problems. Aside from this, you need to regularly drill your staff so that they know how they should respond to these moments of crisis. Electrical hazards are not a laughing matter. Some basic fire safety equipment and procedures can make all the difference.

Everyone is afraid of sharp knives, yet, what people don’t know is the fact that the majority of knife-related injuries are caused by their dull counterparts. Why is this the case? Well, when you’re handling a knife, you expect it to go through the material that you’re putting it up against. If it fails, it may slip and injure our fingers. On some rare occasions, it can even bounce. The problem is that this is a movement and blade response that you aren’t accustomed to. A similar thing can happen with every other piece of equipment. A tool in its intended state is the safest to use.

In the kitchen, there are so many ways for one to get injured. Tools are sharp, grease is everywhere which makes the floors slippery, fire hazards are everywhere and your staff is usually in a hurry. With a design that will provide more maneuvering space, you can already make a world of difference. In positions that are especially critical, you can go ahead and install an anti slip mat. This alone will provide your staff members with a solid footing, thus elevating the safety of everyone in the kitchen.

The risk of food poisoning is a huge problem for any restaurant out there but there are several ways to help make things a bit safer. For instance, you should have strict hygiene rules when it comes to preparing meals and oversee your employees in order to check whether they’re abiding by them. You should also invest in a design that can help you achieve this. Multiple sinks for washing different things (dishes, poultry, etc.) can help minimize the risk. An allergy-friendly fryer that is specifically used for common allergens can also be of great help.

Another thing you should do is be ready to react. What you should do is get yourself some allergy kits. When kept clean and functional, these can be quite useful in making sure special requests for guests with allergies are honored. Also, bear in mind that your inventory needs to be stocked up for such occasions. Most importantly, instruct your waiting staff that they should always inquire about any allergies. This is also why it’s so important that your waiting staff is familiar with the menu and that they pass this information to the kitchen.

In the end, workplace safety is always a top priority, regardless of the industry. In the hospitality industry, it is an even greater priority, mostly because it affects the guests, as well. Other than the above-listed five, there are several honorable mentions, as well. For instance, you should pick the best suppliers and purchase the highest quality of equipment. The more frequent your internal safety inspections are, the better. This way, you will minimize all the risks.