Oftentimes, performing all safety checks and protocols within your commercial kitchen can be exhausting and might be redundant. In such cases, getting certified from an external agency or authority goes a long way.
In a fast paced intense environment like a commercial kitchen, there are bound to be worries regarding safety. We’re talking about dozens of people in very close proximity to heat and fire, sharp utensils, floor gaps, potentially hazardous chemicals and material, and the list may go on. An estimate by the Occupational Safety Hazard Association stated that nearly 44,000 workers in the United States are involved in an accident every year.
It’s essential to every commercial kitchen that there are safety protocols in place. Educating your staff, ensuring proper pathways and safe placement of equipment in the kitchen, proper emergency exit protocols, and so on. Let’s talk about a few of these in depth in this post.
Fire, Fire, EverywhereFires are usually one of the biggest concerns when it comes to commercial kitchen planning. Does your establishment have proper fire exits? Are the cooking areas designed to be fireproof? Do you have enough fire extinguishers on hand?
These may sound like simple rules but their efficacy goes a long way towards maintaining a safe kitchen. For example, fire exit rules change frequently. They also depend on the area of the establishment itself; not every kitchen can directly afford to place fire exits in some areas. Fire extinguishers also need to be periodically checked for quality control and replaced if need be. Fireproof equipment eventually degrades over time. Talking to a commercial kitchen planner will ensure you stay on top of these things so that the probability of an accident is made even less. Another potential hazard: Avoid open-flame cooking as much as possible. This only exacerbates the problem of burns and fire hazards elsewhere in the kitchen
