Kitchen Hazards and Safety Guidelines

Kitchens are usually a hive of numerous hazards that may get overlooked until a mishap actually happens. Let’s learn to spot the unnoticed but common kitchen hazards and safety guidelines to keep your family safer.

Kitchen Equipment Hazards and Safety Guidelines

Stove and Oven Safety Guideline

Kitchen stoves can have a safety risk for every member of the household, no matter whether it is a gas or electric stove.

You can have burned your hands on a roasting stove or using an oven without a proper oven mitt.

However, the possibility to get burned is not the only risk that stoves or ovens can have, they can be hazardous for the following concerns:

• If your drop-in stove is not properly secured, it can tip over, especially when it is open and someone leans on the door. A safety tip for this type of risk is to make sure that it is properly secured.
• Never place pans directly on a hot cooktop that is not safe for direct heat. Because they can shatter. The tip is to use trivets under the pans. No matter what surface they are being placed on after removing them from the oven.
• Leaving empty pots and pans on the stove burner can result in a fire hazard. Always make sure to turn off the stovetop when food is finished cooking.
• If the handles of pots and pans are not properly situated and further they are stuffed with hot food, they can easily be knocked off. Remember to turn the handles of your pots and pans so they are facing away from the front edge of the stove.
• If you forget to properly clean out your oven for a long time, it can cause fires while cooking. Regular cleaning of your oven and other kitchen appliances is a must, and remember to never ignore an oven unattended while in use.

Check also: 10 Common Kitchen Problems and How to Fix them?

Properly Disposing of Garbage

They are almost in every home but their improper usage can result in injury.

• Remember that every member of the household has complete know-how to operate the garbage disposal safely.
• Make sure that when the disposal is operating, don’t ever put your hand or fingers in the drain.
• While poking around in the drain, make sure to never flip the switch.

Small Kitchen Appliances Hazards and Safety Tips

Kitchens are now becoming more and more convenient and efficient because of small kitchen appliances like blenders, juicers, mixers, toasters, crockpots, can openers, etc. Here you’ll know some useful safety tips to keep in mind:

• Place all small kitchen appliance cords properly and away from the edges of the worktop. Any negligence can cause catching a cord and knocking the appliance off the counter.
• Never place small appliances and their cords around the sink or other water sources while operating. This can have a shock hazard.
• When mixers and blenders are operating, don’t ever reach into these small appliances.
• Place the crockpot away from your children’s reach to keep them from getting burned by the hot outer housing.

Kitchen Tools Safety Guidelines

Utensil Drawers

A utensil drawer is a must-have in any kitchen. It is typically filled with forks, knives, and other sharp objects. If you couldn’t properly store them, the results could potentially result in puncture injuries.

• Place all sharp items in a way so that the sharp edges are pointing away. As there is a risk to poke family members as they reach into the drawer.
• Make sure that the drawer is properly organized so someone doesn’t accidentally reach for a spoon and bleed up with the blade of a knife.
• Make sure to avoid clutter in the drawer as it makes it difficult to see sharp utensils.

Knives

Knives are among the most important kitchen utensil and also the most common kitchen hazards, especially if not properly stored.

• Store your sharpest knives separately in a case or block and keep this out of reach of children,
• Put the knife block in a safe place where it won’t get knocked over.
• Make sure that the handles of the knives in a block are positioned properly so that they can be gripped easily.
• Put the blade of the knife in the block with the sharp pole pointing up. As it results in preserving the edges, as well as making it easy for others to know what to expect exactly when taking out a knife.
• Remember to firmly seal the knife cases so there is no more risk of knives accidentally being exposed.

Kitchen Chemical Hazards and Safety Hazards

Chemical products like cleaning supplies and insecticides are mostly placed in kitchens. You can observe that the most common storage space for these types of chemicals is usually underneath the kitchen sink.

Think again that if cabinet doors are not properly closed, this storage space will result in these chemicals within easy reach of children and even pets.

Many of these chemical products can cause burns, skin irritation, and even harm or fatal if ingested.

• Where you store them, make sure to install safety locks on the doors of the cabinet of those storage spaces.
• Always remember to separately store bleach and ammonia because they can results in a dangerous reaction if they get in contact with one another.
• Make sure to label every product.
• Always keep the number for poison control posted on your refrigerator or on the main kitchen door in case you need help in a hurry.

Conclusion

It’s a good idea to review frequently how your kitchen setup can be improved in a safe way so that everything is placed and stored in a safe manner. It’s also crucial to have a fully-charged fire extinguisher, first aid kit, and emergency phone numbers handy in the event of a worst-case scenario.

Our effort is to generate an awareness of the most common kitchen hazards and the concerned safety tips. This can prevent you and your family from unnecessary injuries and accidents from occurring.

Comment below if you like this content and add your points for the most common kitchen hazards and safety guidelines.