Work environment and safety in the kitchen

A kitchen is a workplace with many simultaneous hazards: sharp knives hot surfaces heavy pots slippery floors and high pace during service. The Working Environment Authority supervises working conditions in the catering industry in line with other industries and the employer is obliged to carry out a workplace assessment (APV) that precisely maps these hazards and describes how they are prevented. As a chef you are yourself an active part of making the kitchen safe — not just a recipient of rules.

Knives mandolines and slicing machines are necessary but they are also the most common source of injuries in the kitchen. Correct grip a sharp (rather than dull) blade concentration while cutting and never handing a knife with the blade forward significantly reduces the risk. Cutting protection gloves are often used when working with mandolines or cutting large quantities of raw materials.

• 01Always use pot holders or oven gloves for hot cookware — and keep them dry as wet cloths conduct heat through.
• 02Announce loudly when you carry something hot through the kitchen ('behind' or 'hot behind').
• 03Open lids and ovens away from your face so steam doesn't hit you.
• 04Place pots with the handle inward so no one bumps into them as they pass.

Water, fat and spilled raw materials make kitchen floors slippery, and falls are one of the most common causes of work accidents in the industry. Non-slip shoes with closed toe are a fixed part of work clothes, spills are wiped up immediately, and signage is used for newly washed floors. Good lighting and tidy walkways where crates and equipment do not block are also essential.

Descaling and cleaning agents can be corrosive or irritating to skin and airways. The kitchen's chemical risk assessment and instructions are based on the products' safety data sheets and tell you how the agent is dosed, stored and handled safely — including whether gloves or eye protection must be worn (the separate workplace instruction sheet was abolished on 1 July 2019). Agents are never mixed at random, as some combinations can give off dangerous gases.

Cooking ranges, ovens and dishwashers emit considerable heat and moisture. A well-functioning extractor hood and ventilation system is crucial to maintaining a working environment where you can breathe and work without overheating — and to remove greasy smoke, which otherwise poses a fire risk. Lack of or poorly maintained ventilation is one of the classic findings in workplace inspections in kitchens.

The best safety work happens when the entire brigade — from apprentice to head chef — share a common habit of speaking up when something is slippery dull too hot or too heavy. A workplace accident rarely hits only the individual; it impacts the entire service. Safety is therefore not a brake on tempo but what makes a high tempo sustainable over time.

“A fast kitchen is only good if it is also a safe kitchen.”

— Occupational health and safety principle